The first large made-in-China passenger jetliner took off Friday on its maiden flight, a symbolic milestone in China's long-term goal to break into the Western-dominated aircraft market, the AP reported.

The takeoff of the C919 was welcomed by hundreds of invited guests on the ground at Shanghai Pudong International Airport and was broadcast live on Chinese state television. 

The jet soon became invisible against the dark skies on a windy and polluted day in Shanghai, which was also in the path of dense sandstorms from the north.

China's official Xinhua News Agency said the country had become "one of the world's top makers of jumbo aircraft," becoming the fourth jumbo jet producer after the U.S., Europe and Russia.

China is touting the C919 as a rival to single-aisle jets the Airbus A320 and Boeing 737. It was originally due to fly in 2014 before being delivered to buyers in 2016, but has been beset by delays blamed on manufacturing problems. It's now unlikely to carry commercial passengers until at least 2019.

If the one-and-a-half-hour test flight is successful, the aircraft's maker, state-owned Commercial Aircraft Corp. of China Ltd., or Comac, will then seek certification from China's civil aviation authority and foreign regulators before making any deliveries.

China's first domestically made jet, the twin-engine regional ARJ-21, flew its passengers in June 2016, eight years after its first test flight. 

That smaller jet is a rival to aircraft made by Bombardier Inc. of Canada and Brazil's Embraer SA.