BEIJING • A Chinese plane that plunged more than 5,500m in two minutes has landed safely, said a report from state-owned media.

Shenzhen Airlines' Flight ZH9209 yesterday dived from 9,297m to 3,733m within two minutes, about 25 minutes after taking off, according to the report by state broadcaster CCTV.

The plane had taken off from Shenzhen, a city bordering Hong Kong, and was headed to Xi'an in north-west China.

The A-330 plane built by Airbus suffered an "abnormal pressure increase" when it climbed to 9,200m, and the pilots followed procedure and descended to a safe height, according to a statement from Shenzhen Airlines. The carrier said that investigations are ongoing.

The plane returned to Shenzhen at 9.13am Beijing time and all the passengers and cabin crew left the aircraft safely, the airline said in an earlier statement.

BLOOMBERG