A news conference of the Third Session of the 11th National Committee of Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) on facilitating the transformation of the pattern of economic development is held at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, March 6, 2010. [Xinhua]

The AC313, China's first independently developed civilian helicopter, has its maiden flight scheduled for mid-March in the eastern province of Jiangxi, a company official said Saturday.

Sun Cong, deputy chief engineer of Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC), told Xinhua on the sideline of the national advisory body's annual session in Beijing, that the new aircraft is the country's first domestically developed large helicopter for civilian use.

The AC313, designed and manufactured by AVIC, has a maximum takeoff weight of 13.8 tons and can carry 27 passengers or 15 wounded personnel, said Sun, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), the top political advisory body.

The new helicopter was designed for a variety of uses, including search and rescue, fighting forest fires, and even assisting in fighting fires within cities, Sun said.

The CPPCC National Committee opened its annual sessions in Beijing on Wednesday.

(Xinhua News Agency March 7, 2010)