A visitor looks at a helicopter model at the Aviation Expo/China 2007 in Beijing. The four-day event, which opened yesterday, has drawn 173 exhibitors from 21 countries and regions from across the world.Zhang Wei

Shaanxi Aircraft, a subsidiary of China Aviation Industry Corporation II (AVIC II), and Antonov signed a framework agreement yesterday to set up a center in Beijing for the purpose by the end of this year.

"Part of the center's onus will be to design the freighter version of China's own large plane, which was listed as a priority project in the 11th Five-Year Plan (2006-10)," AVIC II Vice-President Liang Zhenhe said.