The project is jointly founded by Italian helicopter giant Leonardo Group and China's Zenisun Group, a large-scale integrated enterprise group mainly engaged in general aviation. [Photo/zj.zjol.com.cn]

A Sino-Italian helicopter manufacturing project, worth 12.8 billion yuan ($1.86 billion), was launched in Pinghu, a county-level city of Jiaxing in East China's Zhejiang province, on June 21.

The project is jointly founded by Leonardo Group from Italy and China's Zenisun Group. It is scheduled to manufacture AW109 and AW139 helicopters in Pinghu park of Zhangjiang Yangtze River Delta Hi-tech City. It is estimated that the annual helicopter output will reach 150 and the annual output value will hit 16 billion yuan after production begins.

It will become the only helicopter completion and delivery center and assembly line base of Leonardo in the Asia-Pacific region, attracting numerous general aviation equipment and parts manufacturing enterprises and building Pinghu into the leading city for helicopter manufacturing in China.

The launch of the project will directly promote the upgrading of local industries and accelerate Pinghu's pace towards becoming a world-class general aviation manufacturing highland. The Pinghu municipal government will provide great support, ensuring the project starts this November and the first batch of helicopters comes off the assembly line next year, a government official said.