This Day, That Year

Item from June 29, 1995, in China Daily: China's Jingdezhen Helicopter Group has become one of the partners of the Sikorsky Aircraft Corp of the United States.

The joint venture will lead the international team of companies designing the S-92 Helibus.

The S-92 will be used as a passenger, cargo and search-and-rescue aircraft.

China has been developing its helicopter industry in collaboration with international partners since the 1990s.

The latest example is a joint venture with Airbus Helicopters, which is building its first assembly line in Qingdao, Shandong province.

The plant for the H-135 chopper is expected to be completed by next year.

Under an agreement signed in June last year, 100 Airbus H-135s will be assembled at the plant over 10 years.

The first helicopter rollout from Qingdao is planned for mid-2019. The production line will have a total installed annual capacity of 18 helicopters, which can be extended for future growth.

As of last year, there were 550 helicopters in operation nationwide, up from 387 in 2013, according to the Civil Aviation Administration of China. It expects the number to top 2,000 in five years.

Helicopters are now widely used in a number of sectors across China.

In 2014, Sikorsky received approval from CAAC to begin delivering its S-76D helicopter to China, a move that underscored the growing market for choppers in the country.