首架中国制造喷气式客机首次起航
导读:（上海）周四，首架国产支线客机即将进入飞机市场，搭载70名乘客起飞。
SHANGHAI - The first regional jet produced in China’s initiative to compete in the commercial aircraft market made its debut flight Tuesday carrying 70 passengers.
（上海）周四，首架国产支线客机即将进入飞机市场，搭载70名乘客起飞。
The ARJ21-700 jet is one of a series of initiatives launched by the ruling Communist Party to transform China from the world’s low-cost factory into a creator of profitable technology in aviation, clean energy and other fields.
ARJ21-700客机是中国政府对于中国从廉价工厂转向航空业、清洁能源等盈利技术领域的开发者所做出的最初尝试之一。
The plane operated by Chengdu Airlines took its passengers from the western city of Chengdu to Shanghai in two hours.
这架飞机由成都航空公司负责运营，执行从成都到上海的两小时飞行任务。
China is one of the biggest aviation markets but relies on foreign-made aircraft. Beijing wants to capture more of those sales. Its major airlines are state-owned, which gives the ruling party a captive pool of potential customers that can be ordered to buy Chinese-made aircraft.
中国是世界上最大的飞机市场之一，但十分依赖于进口飞机。中国政府希望能够在其中获得更多市场份额。中国主要的航线都是国有的，因此国产飞机的销路很广。
The ARJ21 -- or Asian Regional Jet for the 21st Century -- is intended to make its state-owned manufacturer, Commercial Aircraft Corp. of China, a competitor to Bombardier Inc. of Canada and Brazil’s Embraer SA.
ARJ21是中国商用飞机公司用来和加拿大庞巴迪公司以及巴西航空工业公司竞争的利器。
"The first flight of the ARJ21 marks the beginning of commercial, or passenger, operations for the ARJ21 and signifies the first time a domestically made regional jet has been used by a Chinese airline," said the COMAC chairman, Jin Zhuanglong.
中国商用飞机有限公司的董事长金壮龙表示：“ARJ21的首航象征着新商机的开始或者是乘客新体验的开始，这也是国产飞机首次进入支线航班执行任务。”
The ARJ21 initiative was launched in 2002. It was scheduled to deliver its first plane in 2007 but that was pushed back due to technical problems.
ARJ21项目起始于2002年。人们本来计划在2007年推出第一架飞机，但是由于技术问题而不得不将计划延后。
A full-size jetliner under development by another state-owned company, the C919, is aimed at competing with Boeing Co. and Airbus. After delays blamed on manufacturing problems, the C919 is due to fly this year and enter service in about 2019.
由另一间国企负责研发的标准尺寸客机C919计划成为波音公司和空中巴士公司的竞争对手。由于制造问题而延迟上市的C919也即将在今年升空，在2019年投入运行。
Boeing forecasts China’s total demand for civilian jetliners over the next two decades at 5,580 planes worth a total of $780 billion.
波音公司预测，未来二十年内中国民航支线总需求将达到5580架飞机，估值7800亿元。
