Paul Traynor

Associated Press

In this photo released by China's Xinhua News Agency, people in panda costumes pose in front of a Chengdu Airlines ARJ21-700 plane before its first commercial flight at Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport in Chengdu in southwestern China's Sichuan Province Tuesday, June 28, 2016. The ARJ21-700, made by the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China Ltd. (COMAC), is China's first homegrown regional airliner and can seat 78 to 90 passengers depending on its configuration.

First Made-in-China Jetliner

The ARJ21-700 jet is part of the Communist Party's attempt to transform China from the world's low-cost factory into a creator of profitable technology in aviation, clean energy and other fields.