Sino-US joint venture to make helicopters

California-based Hiller Aircraft Corp. formed a joint venture with a Chinese company to establish a plant in Zhangjiakou in Hebei province for the manufacture of civilian helicopters. The joint venture will invest US$ 15 million to produce Hiller helicopters, which can be widely used for spraying pesticides, forest firefighting, emergency rescue and disaster relief. The construction of the plant will start this year and will be put into operation by next year. Five helicopters will be initially produced. Once in operation, the plant can produce 500 helicopters annually after three to five years with a yearly production value of RMB 200 million.