(Photo : The Logo of China Helicopter Exposition)

More than 100 helicopters were sold at the recently concluded Second China Helicopter Expo, the biggest helicopter show held in the northern port city of Tianjin.

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The four-day event, which ended on Sunday, attracted more than 300 enterprises from the aviation industries of China and around the world, the organizers of the biggest helicopter expo announced.

Some of those sold during the Tianjin expo are the JY-8 helicopters, China's latest-concept unmanned helicopter, which were first shown to the public during the four-day event.

Helicopter Production Agreements

Several production agreements were also signed during the event, including the deal between China's Changhe Aircraft Industrial Group and the US-based Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation. The deal between the Chinese and American aviation giants calls for a co-production of S76D commercial utility helicopters, organizers said.

A total of 8,000 aviation industry professionals and some 40,000 visitors from China and from the different parts of the world attended the Second China Helicopter Expo in Tianjin. Tianjin was particularly chosen to host the helicopter expo because the city is home to the manufacturing facilities of both Airbus and Eurocopter.

Cai Yi, general manager of the helicopter unit of Aviation Industry Corporation of China, said the country's helicopter industry is expected to enter a critical period in the next three to five years but will continue a steady rise, growing by over 30 per cent annually over the next decade.

China's Helicopter Market To Grow

For the next 10 years, the Chinese civil helicopter needs will increase up to about 1500 helicopters and will be subject to a fast growth for the next 20 years.

Also during the helicopter expo, AgustaWestland, a British-Italian multinational helicopter design and manufacturing company, has signed a deal $223 million deal with Sino-US for orders of 20 helicopters.

The deal also makes Sino-US a non-exclusive dealer AgustaWestland's civil helicopters in China, excluding sales of helicopters in Hong Kong and Macau.