Helicopters may be assembled in Jiangsu

A Shanghai-based Zhong-Ou International Group signed a cooperation agreement with Eurocopter SA to assemble business-use helicopters in China, the Wen Wei Po reported Monday.
The agreement, which involves the first private company to tap the helicopter market in the Chinesemainland to date, was signed in Hong Kong over the weekend.
According to the deal, Eurocopter SA will provide technical support, while Zhong-Ou International Group will supply parts and assemble the aircraft in a production base in Changshu, Jiangsu Province, which previously invested 500 million yuan ($76.28 million) in the first stage of the project.
The first sample helicopter, which seats between six and eight passengers, is expected to be launched next year and priced at between 30 million and 60 million yuan ($4.58 to $9.15 million), said Wu Guolin, board chairman of Zhong-Ou International, as quoted by a Hong Kong-based Chinese-language newspaper, adding the goal of manufacturing high-end helicopters is to realize localization of all parts.
Zhong-Ou International Group specializes in manufacturing vehicle including premium motor homes, as well as helicopter-parts manufacturing, with cooperation from partner Mercedes- Benz, the company's website said.
Eurocopter SA is the biggest helicopter producer in the world under the European Aeronautic Defense and Space Company, the parent company of Airbus.
Last month, Eurocopter said orders it gained in China were worth a record 135 million euros ($183.78 million) last year.
"The agreement is in line with the general aviation development policy," Zou Jianjun, a professor with the Civil Aviation Management Institute of China,told the Global Times on Tuesday.
Zou said that the policy of listing the general aviation sector in the 12th Five-Year Plan has triggered corporate enthusiasm in developing general aviation sector.
According to Reuters, Dassault Aviation's business jet unit expects the Greater China region, including Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, to double its contribution to 20 percent of its global deliveries within five years.
Most airspace in China is under strict military control.
However, insiders are concerned that cooperation between Zhong-Ou International Group and the Eurocopter SA will face various barriers to market entry.
"Pouring in money (alone) cannot help build up a wholly-successful company as there are many invisible (challenges) such as management, talent, even conceptual barriers to aviation, and these will take years to develop," Li Chen, board chairman of Jinggong (Beijing) General Aviation Co, told the Global Times on Tuesday.