Airbus Helicopters and Sino-German Ecopark, a firm located in Qingdao, in the Shandong province of China, signed a letter of intent on Monday to build an H135 final assembly line in the Asian country. The agreement was inked by Sino-German Ecopark deputy general manager Yao Yixian and Airbus Helicopters Deutschland CEO Wolfgang Schoder; Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and visiting German Chancellor Angela Merkel witnessed the ceremony.

Sino-German Ecopark has committed to assemble at least 100 of the light twins over the next 10 years. An “ecosystem” will be developed with the Chinese partners to provide maintenance, repair, overhaul and training. The H135s produced in China will be distributed domestically. Airbus Helicopters claims a civil market share of 40 percent today in China and expects the Chinese market to grow to 3,000 to 5,000 helicopters in the next 20 years.

The first mention of the project dates back to 2012, when then-Eurocopter CEO Lutz Bertling spoke about his intention to build a final assembly facility in China. Under a previous partnership, Avic Group's HAIG has produced EC120 light singles under the HC120 moniker. Meanwhile, Airbus Helicopters announced it gathered net orders for 181 rotorcraft in the first nine months of this year, representing a slight decline in units but more value.