A plane operated by the state-owned China Eastern airline crashed over the southern Chinese city of Wuzhou in Guangxi province on Monday.
As confirmed by the National Air Traffic Control Authority (CAAC), there were 132 people on board, including 123 passengers and 9 crew members.
Henrik Ankenbrand
Economic correspondent for China based in Shanghai.
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It is not yet known whether there are any survivors.
The aircraft, flight number MU5735, was en route from southern Kunming, the capital of Yunnan province, to Guangzhou, the provincial capital of Guangdong.
The machine is said to be the 737-800 model from the American manufacturer Boeing.
The age of the aircraft was given by the authorities at 6.8 years.
Data from sites that track aircraft movements shows the plane descended at 30,000 feet (9,000 meters) per minute before disappearing from radar in a mountainous region.
Videos on the Chinese internet show the alleged impact, in which the plane appears to have been completely destroyed and a fire ignited in the surrounding area.
In the 1990s, China's aviation was considered one of the most unsafe in the world.
Serious pilot error, lack of maintenance and sloppy oversight by authorities led to numerous crashes and many hundreds of deaths in just a few years.
Later, however, the country managed to fix the problems.
China has risen to become one of the safest countries in global air traffic.
Since 2000, Airfleets.net has listed a total of three fatal plane crashes in China, killing 207 people.
However, in the ranking of the 20 safest airlines in 2022, compiled by AirlineRatings.com, no airline from the People's Republic appears, with the exception of Cathay Pacific from Hong Kong SAR in eleventh place.
China Eastern, the society behind the crashed plane in southern China, rates the site six stars out of seven for safety.
Pre-market, Boeing shares promptly came under pressure and fell 6 percent.