The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force has for the first time placed its J-20 stealth fighter jet on display at an ongoing open-house activity that opened on Friday in Changchun, capital of Jilin province.

A J-20 fifth-generation stealth fighter jet has been parked on site during the Air Force’s 2025 Open-house Activity and the Changchun Air Show, only meters away from spectators.

▲ The Hongying (Red Eagle) Aerobatic Team from the Aviation University of the Air Force performs at the 2025 aviation open-day activities of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Air Force and Changchun Air Show, which kicked off on Friday in Changchun, Jilin province. Zhou Guoqiang/For China Daily

This is the first time that the Air Force has allowed members of the public to have a close look at the radar-evading fighter, which features world-class technology and capability.

In addition to the ground display, the J-20 is also part of airborne performances at the event. It took part in a tactical maneuver flight show on Friday morning together with another three J-20s.

They conducted a flyby in a diamond-shaped formation and presented dazzling maneuvers, igniting spectators’ enthusiasm.

A large crowd of visitors clustered outside the cordon in front of the J-20’s parking stand, waiting for its return. They burst into cheers and applause when the aircraft taxied back to the stand and the pilot waved to greet them.

Designed by the Chengdu Aircraft Design and Research Institute, an Aviation Industry Corp of China subsidiary in Sichuan province, the J-20 is China’s first stealth-class combat aircraft and so far the largest and heaviest fighter in service in the military. It sparked nationwide excitement on Jan 11, 2011, after its maiden flight, which happened that day at an AVIC airport in Sichuan.

Code-named Weilong, or Mighty Dragon, the J-20 made its public debut in November 2016 at the 11th China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition in Zhuhai, Guangdong province. It entered service with the Air Force later that year, becoming the world’s third stealth fighter jet to enter service following the F-22 Raptor and F-35 Lightning II of the United States.

Until now, there have been three models in the J-20 series — the baseline configuration, which is on display in Changchun; the J-20A, an upgraded single-seat variant that is equipped with new, more powerful domestically developed engines; and the J-20S, the world’s first and only twin-seat stealth jet.

All three types took part in flight performances during a grand parade earlier this month in Beijing.

Wang Yanan, chief editor of Aerospace Knowledge magazine, said that the ground display of the J-20 represents an unprecedented level of transparency, openness and confidence of the Air Force.

“It is because the Air Force has deployed a large number of J-20s and that the Chinese aviation industry must have begun to develop next-generation combat planes. Enabling the public to have a close look at the J-20 will definitely increase their confidence in the Air Force’s hardware and operational capability,” Wang said.

In addition to the J-20, the Air Force has also sent a number of advanced fighter jets, bombers, early-warning and control aircraft to the Air Force’s activities, which drew an estimated 100,000 spectators on Friday, mostly weapons and aviation enthusiasts coming from across the nation.