China gets over 200 orders for homemade plane

China's homemade passenger plane C919 -- scheduled to be launched in 2014 -- has received 235 orders, including from the US, an official said.

Wu Guanghui, the plane's chief designer and deputy general manager of the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China Ltd., said the orders were mostly from domestic users, but there were some from the US and southeast Asian countries.

Wu, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, the top political advisory body in the country, said development for the plane was under way, and its first test flight is scheduled for 2014.

The C919, China's first homegrown single-aisle passenger jet, would be powered in the initial stage by advanced LEAP-X1C engines that are installed in Boeing and Airbus aircraft.

The engine, jointly developed by General Electric Company and Safran, could lower fuel consumption by 13 to 15 percent and cut emissions by 50 percent, Xinhua reported.

China is also designing an engine for the plane, code-named "Yangtze 1000" which is undergoing certification.

"There will be a choice of two engines for the C919 in the future, and the plane will definitely have a 'Chinese heart'," he said.