China's large amphibious aircraft conducts high-speed taxiing trials on water

China's indigenously-developed large amphibious aircraft has successfully conducted high-speed water taxiing trials on the Zhanghe reservoir.

The test of the AG600 seaplane was conducted on Monday at a speed of 145 kms in the city of Jingmen of central China's Hubei Province, according to China Aviation Industry General Aircraft Co Ltd (CAIGA).

CAIGA, headquartered in the southern province of Guangdong, said on Tuesday that the AG600, codenamed Kunlong, was in stable condition and functioned normally during the test.

Designed to be the world's largest amphibious aircraft, the AG600 is powered by four domestically built turboprop engines and has a range of 12 hours.

It will be mainly used for maritime rescue, fighting forest fires and marine monitoring, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

The aircraft has passed a series of tests since its maiden flight last December. It successfully finished eight taxiing tests on water at a speed of 80 km per hour and 120 km per hour.