The Henan Airlines aircraft burst into flames after overshooting the runway at Yichun City’s airport at 2210 (1410 GMT), the Xinhua news agency reported.
Forty-seven people have so far been rescued, according to state TV. Xinhua said 20 had been rushed to hospital.
The Embraer ERJ-190 had taken off from the provincial capital Harbin at 2100.
Henan Airlines earlier told Xinhua that the plane was carrying 96 people.
The airline is a joint venture between Shenzhen Airlines of China and Mesa Air Group of the US, and is based in Henan province.
The last serious air accident in China was in November 2004, when a passenger plane with 53 people on board crashed into a frozen lake near the northern city of Baotou. Two people on the ground were also killed.
