China's largest-ever civil helicopter on Thursday received its certification from the Civil Aviation Administration of China, the country's civil aviation authority.

The move marks the official approval for the 13-tonne AC313, Asia's largest helicopter, to enter the market, said the Aviation Industry Corp. of China (AVIC), which developed and manufactured the helicopter.

The aircraft focuses on designs of maintainability, life reliability, indemnification and life cycle efficiency, and meets international safety standards, underlining China's abilities in the research and development (R&D) of large helicopters.

After four years of R&D, the AC313 is also the world's first civil helicopter to receive an A-category airworthiness certificate at an altitude of 4,500 meters, the AVIC said.

The aircraft can be deployed for emergency rescue operations, forest fire prevention, transport, offshore operations, medical aid, sightseeing and business trips, the AVIC said.

About 25 percent of China's territory is plateau 3,000 meters or more above sea level, so emergency rescue authorities need helicopters in these largely western areas, said Yu Feng, board chairman and general manager of AVIC Changhe Aircraft Industries Group Co. Ltd.

"Natural disasters in western China's plateau require immediate rescue but restrict the construction of roads and airports, which demands the appearance of large civil helicopters," Yu told Xinhua, adding that the project was launched after the 2008 fatal earthquake in Sichuan province.

The AC313 made two trial flights to the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in 2010 and 2011, respectively, and set a record of soaring to an altitude of 8,500 meters, making it the first domestic aircraft able to fly in the highlands, the AVIC added.

Trial flights that clocked up 200 hours covered 26,000 kilometers over northwest China's Qinghai province and Tibet autonomous region, collected a lot of important geographical data on the areas, and proved the helicopters to be qualified to cross the country as well as take off above the altitude of 3,000 meters with a load weighing up to one tonne.

The state-owned aircraft maker produces civil helicopters weighing from one to 13 tonnes. Its one-tonne AC310 helicopter, the country's first ultra-light civil helicopter, made its debut at the first China Helicopter Exposition held last September, according to the AVIC.

The AC313 has navigational tools based around a comprehensive avionics system designed for use when telecommunications are absent in plateau areas and it adopts satellite communications without needing ground stations, said Xu Zhaoliang, chief designer of the AC313.

The aircraft features fuel systems, fire-extinguishing technology and tail boom composite materials never before used in China in the domestic civil helicopter field. As such, the tests by the Civil Aviation Administration of China saw the body called upon to test many new technologies for the first time, Xu Chaoliang said.

"The anti-crash, anti-lightening and anti-bird strike systems were all new in China, so this was the first test of this kind with independent intellectual property in China," Xu said.

(Xinhua News Agency January 5, 2012)