A bus manufacturer in central China's Henan Province will export 630 buses to Cuba, the largest deal in the country's bus industry of the year, according to the company's spokesman on Tuesday.

The deal, involving 430 end products and assembly parts for another 200 buses, is worth nearly 50 million US dollars and will be delivered to the end user, Astro Bus, by January 2006, said the spokesman with Zhengzhou Yutong Bus Co. Ltd., which is located in Zhengzhou, the province's capital.

The spokesman said the company was awarded the new contract because Astro Bus had been satisfied with Yutong buses delivered under an earlier agreement signed in April, which involved 400 buses.

Both deals were reached with the help of the Beijing Branch of China National Aero-technology Import and Export Corporation.

"The Cuban side expects to establish long-term cooperation with Yutong in order to cope with its growing domestic demand for passenger transport services," the spokesman said, adding the Chinese-made buses will mainly be used for long-distance passenger transport.

Yutong holds 22 percent of China's bus market share. In 2004, it sold 18,000 buses and chalked up 7.4 billion yuan (892 million US dollars) of sales.

Earlier this year, the company revealed its plan to build an after-sale service in Cuba.

Source: Xinhua