Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer announced on Wednesday the sale of 100 airplanes to China's regional airline, Hainan Air.

 

The 2.7-billion-dollar deal for 100 planes, half of which will be manufactured in China, include 50 50-seater ERJ 145s and 50 106-seater Embraer 190s.

 

The ERJ 145s will be produced by joint-venture company Harbin Embraer Aircraft Industry (HEAI) with deliveries scheduled for September 2007, Embraer said in a statement.

 

The Embraer 190s, to be configured for single-class service, will be manufactured at Embraer's plant in Sao Jose dos Campos, Sao Paulo. The first deliveries should take place in December 2007.

 

Sources with the Chinese embassy in Brazil said that several agreements will be signed by Chinese and Brazil enterprises during China top legislator Wu Bangguo's visit. Wu arrived in Brazil on Tuesday afternoon for an official goodwill visit.

 

Wu yesterday called for closer economic ties between China and Brazil, saying that the two countries have the opportunity now to advance economic and trade cooperation.

 

"As key developing countries in the world, China and Brazil share broad common interests," Wu told Vice President Jose Alencar.

 

To better coordinate bilateral cooperation, the two sides decided to set up a high-level coordination and cooperation committee in 2004. The committee had its first meeting last March in Beijing.

 

Wu said he hoped that the two countries would make full use of the committee to push bilateral economic and trade cooperation to new levels.

 

(Xinhua News Agency August 31, 2006)