A scaled-down version of the nation's biggest air show, showcasing the domestically-produced C919 passenger jet, opened on Tuesday.

The event comes as virus case numbers on the mainland reached their highest level in six months, with the organisers of Airshow China in the southern city of Zhuhai last week telling attendees that they must arrive three days early because of Covid-19 precautions.

Comac's C919 – the recently certified homegrown rival to the popular Airbus A320neo and Boeing 737 MAX narrowbody families – was in the show's flying display for the first time on Tuesday.

It performed sharp 45-degree turns and circled through cloudy skies over the southern city of Zhuhai before touching down before a crowd wearing N-95 masks outdoors. Earlier, four J-20 stealth fighter jets streaked by in close formation.

Regulators approved the C919 in September, with President Xi Jinping hailing the project's "gratifying achievements" and calling it "an effort freighted with the will of the country".

Comac has said over 800 orders for the C919 have been placed by dozens of customers.

The C919 display came the same day China Southern Airlines operated its last Airbus A380 flight from Los Angeles to Guangzhou, according to flight tracking website FlightRadar24, marking the retirement of the European superjumbo from its fleet.

For the first time, Airbus, Boeing and Comac all had single-aisle aircraft on display at the show, which is normally biennial but was held in 2021 after the pandemic delayed the 2020 edition.

State-owned newspaper Global Times reported a new anti-drone defence system built around the HQ-17AE short-range air defence missile complex would make its debut at the show as a countermeasure for low, slow and small drones that are difficult to identify and attack with traditional anti-air systems.

Beijing is also showing off a FH-97A "Loyal Wingman" drone model designed to coordinate with crewed aircraft, the Global Times reported. The aircraft is different from the FH-97 concept first displayed last year. (Reuters/AFP)