SHANGHAI, September 15. /TASS/. Work on a joint Russian-Chinese project to create the CR929, a long-haul wide-body airliner, is in the initial stage of designing, the Pengpai information resource reported citing Chief Scientist at the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC) Wu Guanghui who spoke at the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in Shanghai on Thursday.

"The aircraft’s general technical plan has been approved, and suppliers of the sections of the body and tail have been defined by now. Officially, the initial designing stage has started," he was quoted as saying by the resource. The share of composite materials in the body of the airliner will total 51%, which will make it over 10-percent more cost efficient than its rival models, Guanghui noted.

The project for creating the Russian-Chinese long-haul wide-body airliner has been underway since 2014. The aircraft is being developed by CRAIC, a joint venture of the United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) and the Shanghai-based Chinese company COMAC. The Russian side is responsible for the wings, center-section and high lift devices, while the center body, cowling, as well as horizontal and vertical trail are the Chinese side’s responsibility.

The base version CR929-600 will be able to carry 280 passengers and cover up to 12,0000 km. The aircraft family will also include modifications with stretched (CR929-700) and shortened (CR929-500) center body.