Plan for heavy-lift choppers on horizon

China and Russia will soon sign a contract to jointly develop heavy-lift helicopters, a senior aviation expert said yesterday.

The two countries signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) last year, after which both sides have made great progress to take the deal forward, Zhang Hongbiao, former president of the Aviation Industry Corporation of China II (AVIC II), told reporters.

The deal, Zhang, a CPPCC member and director of the science and technology commission for the Aviation Industry Corporation of China, said, was based on "common wish".