The southern province of Guangdong will facilitate cooperation in the aviation industry with Hong Kong by building a joint maintenance base of airplane equipment in the years ahead.

According to Zhou Lewei, deputy secretary of the organizing committee of China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition, dubbed Airshow China, the joint maintenance base deal will likely be signed during this year's event.

But Zhou did not reveal parties from either side involved in the deal.

"The only thing that we can tell is Hong Kong and Guangdong have been long awaiting such a deal. And we are taking it into an implementation process," Zhou said in an interview with China Daily.

Also, a joint scheme of refitting passenger airplanes to cargo carriers has likely been reached between the two sides, Zhou added.

"They are seen as part of the important cooperative aviation projects between the two sides, after the Airport Authority Hong Kong (AAHK) bought the Zhuhai Airport two years ago," Zhou said.

In 2006, the government of Zhuhai and the airport authority in the special administrative region signed an agreement to develop a joint venture, the Hong Kong-Zhuhai Airport Management Co.

After that, the air traffic at the Zhuhai Airport reached a record level in 2007, with annual passenger volumes exceeding 1 million and cargo throughput reaching 10,683 tons, according to a source at the Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA).

"We have realized the sound and promising future for the aviation industry cooperation between Guangdong and Hong Kong. As a result, we will spare no efforts to push forward the development," Zhou said.

Given an aviation industrial park being established last year in Zhuhai, Zhou said that the coastal city in southwestern Guangdong has developed a well-equipped environment to host more of such projects in the aviation sector.

According to Zhou, the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao-Taiwan Aviation Industries Forum, which will focus on aviation industry cooperation among the areas, will be held during this year's Airshow China next month.

The biannual event will be held from Nov. 4-9, with about 600 aviation and aerospace companies from 35 countries and regions having confirmed participation.

The exhibition's executive committee is also talking with relevant central aviation and aerospace associations for the possibility of displaying the reentry module of the Shenzhou VII spacecraft during the upcoming event, Zhou said.