Sichuan Airlines, partly owned by China Southern Airlines, has placed an initial order of 20 C919 jets, bringing the total order for the country's self-developed commercial jets to 165 units.

The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed in a statement released by C919's maker, Commercial Aircraft Corp of China.

The C919 jet is designed to compete with Boeing's 737 and Airbus's A320 in the narrow-body segment. The test flights for the single-aisle, 150-seat C919 are scheduled for 2014 and delivery is slated for 2016.

Major Chinese airlines, China Development Bank's CDB Leasing, General Electric's GE Capital Aviation Services and the leasing arm of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China have ordered 145 C919 jets.