China is to build an eight-billion-yuan (US$1.2 billion) helicopter production complex in the north of the nation in a bid to meet a huge void in the market, state media reported on Jan. 12.
The complex will be set up by the Aviation Industry Corp. of China in Tianjin city, near Beijing.
China needs about 3,000 helicopters in the next 20 years, Xinhua quoted Fang Yong, the company's deputy manager, as saying.
The company will start construction in the first half of the year and expects to make two helicopters in 2009, the report said.
Sales are forecast to reach 30 to 40 billion yuan within 10 years, according to the report.
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2009
