Chinese experts predict that demand for non-military helicopters will rise rapidly in China in the next few years.

There is a robust demand of helicopters for public interests such as police operations, salvage and fire control across the country, Qu Jingwen, general manager of Hafei Aviation Industries Co. Ltd., told a seminar on helicopter business during the 6th China International aviation and aerospace exhibition held here.

He said there are 104 helicopters in service across the country by 2005, a rise of 55.2 percent from the level in 1995.

Qu placed the demand of helicopters for police operations in Chinese cities at 50 during the 11th five-year-plan period (2006-2010), and that for offshore salvaging efforts around 20, plus certain procurement of helicopters for purposes of other marine affairs.

Qu's view was supported by Huang Chuanyue, head of China Helicopter Research and Design Institute, who says that the market of helicopters for civilian use is still in the fledgling stage and its development unstable.

China has developed helicopters of six different loads ranging from 1.5 to 13 tons.

The 6th China International aviation and aerospace exhibition, a biennial event, opened here in Zhuhai, a coastal city in Guangdong Province, and will last untill Nov. 5. The first such fair was held in 1996.

(Xinhua News Agency October 31, 2006)