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Aviation industry sees promising future
By Lu Haoting (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-11-17 10:55 Industrial partnership China is more than a market to Eurocopter. The France-based company plans to more than triple the value of components and parts sourced from China, reaching a value of $65 million per year, by 2013, Bertling says. Besides Eurocopter, China also supplies components to other helicopter makers such as Sikorsky Aircraft Corp and Bell Helicopter. Eurocopter and then AVIC II co-developed the 1.7-ton EC120 in 1992, in which the Chinese company had a 24 percent share. About 600 units have been sold worldwide. AVIC I and AVIC II, China's two leading aviation manufacturers, were recently merged to create AVIC as the government tries to consolidate the nation's aircraft development and manufacturing capabilities. AVIC and Eurocopter are now jointly developing the six-ton EC175, also called Z15 in China. It is designed for civilian use and will fill the gap in the current helicopter range in the two companies with models between five and 10 tons. The project is equally shared between AVIC and Eurocopter in both design and production. There will be two assembly lines, one in Harbin, capital city of China's Heilongjiang province, and the other in Marignane, France. The helicopter is scheduled to make its first flight in 2009. Eurocopter, responsible for the sales of EC175 abroad, has received 150 orders for the helicopter from the Untied States, New Zealand, Russia and the United Kingdom, Bertling says. The Chinese government has made the aviation industry, including the manufacturing of helicopters, a priority for development during the 11th Five-Year Plan. (For more biz stories, please visit Industries)
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