If COMAC’s C919 jumbo jet takes off, so does China. But is the Chinese government’s heavy hand weighing it down?
Illustration by Sam Ward
On a spring day four years ago, China’s ultimate industrial dream came true. The C919, a single-aisle, two-engine jetliner, touched down in Shanghai to a throng of cheering spectators. No less than two members of the Communist Party’s mighty Politburo attended the celebratory festivities. The C919 had just completed its 79-minute maiden voyage, and its safe descent marked a “centurial breakthrough,” according to its manufacturer, the state-owned Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (
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