People view a model of CR929 airplane during the international aviation and space salon MAKS 2019 in Zhukovsky, Russia, Aug. 27, 2019. (Xinhua/Bai Xueqi)

The development team for the CR929, a long-range wide-body aircraft being jointly developed by China and Russia, has selected parts suppliers and officially started design work, the chief designer said on Thursday.

Wu Guanghui, chief designer of the C919, China's first homegrown large passenger aircraft, made the remarks at a meeting held in Shanghai. 

Wu is also a member of the China Engineering Academy and the chief scientist of Commercial Aircraft Corp of China (COMAC), the plane maker.

"We have selected the suppliers for the fuselage and tail structure sections, and preliminary design work has started," Wu said, according to news website thepaper.cn.

The CR929 aircraft has a composite material ratio of 51 percent, and it can cover 95 percent of flying distance needs, according to Wu.

The CR929 is a dual-aisle civilian aircraft being jointly developed by China and Russia, initially for the aviation markets in both countries, as well as global civil aviation demand. The first standard version of the aircraft, or the CR929-600, would be able to fly 12,000 kilometers with 280 passengers onboard, according to the official website of COMAC.

COMAC has three types of aircraft - the ARJ21, which seats 78-90 people, the C919, which can seat 156-168, and the CR929.

Wu said that the C919, the nation's first domestic narrow-body passenger plane, will soon be certified and then delivered to China Eastern Airlines.

Wu said the C919 has suppliers all over the world, and there are manufacturers in many cities across China, but all designs are concentrated in Shanghai.

The Global Times earlier reported that two C919 jets arrived in Beijing on Tuesday, in a move that observers described as preparation for final certification from China's civil aviation regulator, which could come as soon as this month.   

COMAC said on August 1 that the C919 had completed all the test flights needed to obtain an airworthiness certificate. 

COMAC has received 815 orders for the C919 from 28 customers worldwide.

So far, 75 ARJ21 aircraft have been delivered, with 616 total orders. The planes connect 110 cities with 263 routes, and they have transported more than 5.3 million passengers, according to Wu. 

Global Times