The state-owned plane maker received a production certificate from the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), the news agency said.
Shanghai-based COMAC last year said that orders for the twin-engine jet had reached 413 from 19 customers.
COMAC is also developing a bigger C919 jet as part of its efforts to compete against Boeing (>> Boeing Company (The)) and Airbus (>> Airbus SE) in the lucrative narrow-body market. The C919 had 24 customers and 600 orders, COMAC said in June.
(Reporting By Matthew Miller and Fang Cheng; Editing by Himani Sarkar)