Two major Chinese aviation companies announced in Zhuhai on Tuesday their purchases of stakes in the Airbus Engineering Center in Beijing.

Under an agreement signed Tuesday on the sidelines of the Zhuhai air show, China Aviation Industry Corporation (AVIC) I will hold five percent and AVIC II will hold 25 percent of the center, which was sponsored by the European aircraft giant Airbus in 2005.

The remaining 70 percent will remain with Airbus.

The deal will turn the center into a Sino-European joint venture, indicating closer cooperation between Airbus and Chinese aviation companies, said industry sources.

The center will be in charge of the designing of aircraft projects of Airbus. And the projects will be actually undertaken by engineers from both China and Airbus. The aero parts designed by the center will be produced by the companies under AVIC I and AVIC II.

The center has recruited more than 100 Chinese engineers to date and the number is expected to reach 200 by the end of 2008.

At present, six Chinese aviation enterprises affiliated to AVIC I and AVIC II produce parts for Airbus.

More than half of the 4,400 Airbus aircraft in service worldwide were assembled with parts produced in China.

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