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| In this image made from video, the J-20 stealth fighter jet flies at China's International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition in Zhuhai on Nov 1, 2016. (Photo / AP) |
ZHUHAI, China - China showed its Chengdu J-20 stealth fighter in public for the first time on Tuesday at the country's biggest meeting of aircraft makers and buyers.
Airshow China is held in the southern city of Zhuhai as China is set to overtake the US as the world's top aviation market in the next decade.
The long-range J-20, armed with air-to-air missiles, performed its first test flight in 2011
Two J-20 jets , Zhuhai's headline act, swept over dignitaries and hundreds of spectators and industry executives gathered at the show's opening ceremony in a 60-second flypast, generating a deafening roar that was met with gasps and applause and set off car alarms in a parking lot at the site.
The long-range J-20, armed with air-to-air missiles, performed its first test flight in 2011.
"It is clearly a big step forward in Chinese combat capability," said Bradley Perrett of Aviation Week, a veteran China watcher.
Cao Qingfeng, an aircraft engineer watching the flypast, said the "stunning" display was a show of China's strengthening aircraft industry and manufacturing - and Western officials agreed.
The export-oriented J-31, was unveiled at Zhuhai in 2014.
Aircraft that are already scheduled to be on display alongside the latest Chinese weapon systems, radar and drones include the Xian Y-20 strategic airlifter, and what organisers say is the largest amphibious plane now in production, the AG600.
The flying boat is promoted as a fire-fighting or search and rescue plane. Absent from the airshow schedule is the Comac C919 passenger jet, designed to compete with Europe's Airbus Group and Boeing Co of the United States, the rivals who dominate the global supply of airliners.
The 150-seater C919 is scheduled to stage an often-delayed maiden flight this year.
Airbus and Boeing continue to expand in China with recent plant announcements. Boeing is expected to announce a new supplier partnership at the show, which runs until Nov 6.
