China's first jumbo jet is expected to fly by 2020 if everything goes smoothly, said Wu Guanghui, deputy general manager of Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China Ltd.(CACC), according to sources.

CACC was set up in Shanghai on May. 11, marking a key step in the country's research and development of giant passenger planes.

The new firm has a registered capital of RMB 19 billion (US$2.7 billion), in which the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission invested RMB 6 billion to become its largest shareholder with 31.58% of the shares.

Other stakeholders include Shanghai Guo Sheng (Group) Co Ltd (26.32%), China Aviation Industry Corporation I (AVIC I) (21.06%), China Aviation Industry Corporation II (AVIC II) (5.26%) and so on .

Last week, five main aircraft manufacturers have been selected to jointly develop jumbo jet planes with CACC, including Harbin Aircraft Industry Group Co. Ltd. and Shaanxi Aircraft Industry (Group) Co Ltd., owned by AVIC1, Xi'an Aircraft Industry (Group) Co. Ltd., Shenyang Aircraft Corp and Chengdu Aircraft Industrial (Group) Co Ltd, owned by AVIC II.