Shanxi Zhehang Helicopter Industry Co in Taiyuan, capital of North China's Shanxi province, recently obtained a model certificate and production license for the ZH281A helicopter from the Civil Aviation Administration of China, becoming the first privately-owned enterprise in the country to manufacture helicopters.

Manufacturing helicopters is highly difficult. Typically, it takes seven to eight years to complete the entire process from design, production, assembly and test flights to obtaining the certificate, but Shanxi Zhehang Helicopter Industry Co accomplished the feat in just three years.

Xu Longqing, general manager of Shanxi Zhehang Helicopter Industry Co, stated that "ZH281A model has completed 22 conformity verification tests, confirmed 101 types of conformity verification documents, and conducted more than 300 hours of flight testing in Shanxi, Hebei, Xinjiang, and other regions."

Over the past three years, the company obtained 182 invention patents and made over 7,000 design drawings. The company is set to commence mass production on June 1 this year.

The company aims to produce 300 helicopters annually, generating a value of 800 million yuan ($110.67 million), which would make it a leading enterprise in the production of light helicopters in the country.

The company has already initiated the application process for the certificate of an 800-kilogram unmanned helicopter model, which is the largest of its kind in the country.