Safran Landing Systems has announced a significant development in its joint venture with the China Eastern Group.

CEO Vincent Mascré has jointly laid the cornerstone for a new centre of excellence dedicated to landing gear maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) with China Eastern Group chairman Liu Shaoyong.

Located in the airport zone of the city of Xi'an, the new MRO centre will be operated by XIESA, the joint venture created in November last year by China Eastern Airlines and French aerospace and defence giant Safran, which has an industrial facility at Meteor Business Park in Gloucester.

Xi'an is already home to a maintenance hub, under development, for the China Eastern Airlines fleet.

It gives both partners an ideal location for their new landing gear MRO plant, at the departure point for the historic 'Silk Road', as well as the new rail network intended to link China and Europe.

The capital of Shaanxi province, Xi'an offers a large pool of top-flight skills for XIESA, which aims to provide outstanding local services.

The company's priority will be the Chinese domestic market, in a country that is now one of the world's leading aviation markets, with fleets of single-aisle jets arriving at maturity, and therefore requiring landing gear overhauls.

Mr Mascre said: "Today marks the symbolic milestone of laying the cornerstone for this facility, a result of our long-standing relationship with China Eastern Airlines.

"Last year this relationship culminated in the creation of a joint venture, and we are now starting the construction of a facility that will showcase our expertise and the wide range of services offered to our customers."