The plane was intended to serve as a demonstrator and help the Chinese industry obtain experience in large aircraft design and flight testing.

The Chinese government prided itself on the program, citing a Reuters report which said, "After developing this kind of highly complex technology, one could no longer regard China as a backward country.

The guiding philosophy during the 1980s the political-economic reforms and opening up which emphasizes importing technology from the west and exporting low-end goods diverted resources from domestic high-tech manufacturing and R&D.

The strategic vision of an independently developed large transport plane had long been voiced by Mao Zedong and, in 2006, a similar project with updated design goals made its way into the Eleventh Five-Year Plan, periodic strategic socio-economical development plans drawn up by the Chinese government.

The plane first flew on September 26, 1980, making 130 flights with 170 hours of flying time, visiting Beijing, Harbin, Urumqi, Zhengzhou, Hefei, Guangzhou, Kunming, Lhasa and Chengdu before its retirement in 1984.

By 1985, Shanghai Aircraft Manufacturing Factory had been granted production licensing for the McDonnell Douglas MD-80 and shifted all efforts towards that program.