(Yicai Global) May 27 -- The technical specifications of the CR929, a wide-body aircraft that China is developing with Russia, are basically determined, according to the chief designer of China's first homegrown large passenger jet, the C919.

The developers, China Commercial Aircraft and Russia's United Aircraft, have started working on the preliminary design of the new passenger aircraft, the People's Daily reported yesterday, citing Wu Guanghui.

China and Russia set up a Shanghai-based joint venture in May 2017 to design the CR929. The base model CR929-600 is benchmarked against the Boeing 787 with a basic range of 12,000 kilometers and 280 seats.

The pioneering C919's development is proceeding in an orderly manner, said Wu. Six C919s have been tested in Shanghai, Xi'an, Dongying, and Nanchang since last year, and the test flights are proceeding smoothly, he added. COMAC has already received 815 orders for the plane model from 28 domestic and foreign buyers.

Meanwhile, Shanghai-based COMAC has delivered 25 regional airliner ARJ21s to customers such as Chengdu Airlines, Tianjiao Airlines, and Jiangxi Airlines. These airlines have opened 50 routes to 50 cities and transported more than 830,000 passengers.

Editor: Emmi Laine