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Commercial Aircraft Corp of China Ltd (COMAC), in charge of the C919 passenger airplane program, announced on Tuesday that its major task this year would be the preliminary design of the jumbo jets, the China News Agency reported.
The work would include a wind tunnel experiment with applied loads, draft design of the aircraft's cockpit model as well as the signing of a series of memorandums of understanding with systems suppliers.
Shanghai-based COMAC, established in May 2008 with 19 billion yuan ($2.9 billion) registered capital, aims to take on Boeing and Airbus in China's aviation market with the highly anticipated homegrown passenger aircraft.
The airplane manufacturer unveiled a model of the narrow-body C919 plane at the Asia Aerospace Expo in Hong Kong in September. The 150-seat jumbo jet is expected to take off in 2014 and enter service in 2016.