Diamond Aircraft Industries GmbH has entered into a Joint Venture (JV) with three partners to manufacture the DA40 Diamond Star aircraft in China under the company name 'Shandong Bin Ao Aircraft Industries Co., Ltd'. This is the first Joint Venture worldwide under which General Aviation aircraft will be manufactured completely under EASA and CAAC Production Organization Approval.

The new production facility is located at the airport in Binzhou Dagao, in the Shandong province, approximately 350 kilometers southeast of Beijing. The total area of the premises at the General Aviation airfield is more than 30,000 square meters. The maximum production capacity is 1,000 aircraft per year (in three work shifts). The quality system for the new manufacturing facility is a mirror image of the EASA approved quality system of Diamond Aircraft Industries GmbH.

The opening ceremony of Shandong Bin Ao Aircraft Industries Co., Ltd in Binzhou Dagao Hi-Tec Development Zone, Zhanhua County, Binzhou, Shandong Province, P.R. China, PC 256800 on December 8th, 2006, was attended by a delegation of Austrian government members led by State Secretary of the Federal Ministry for Transport, Innovation and Technology Mag. Eduard Mainoni, as well as many other VIP guests.

After the speeches by Mr. Christian Dries, CEO of Diamond Aircraft and Vice-Governor Provinz Shandong, SUN Shoupu, a purchase order for 100 aircraft was signed and handed over to Mr. Li Songlin, General Manager of the JV. The opening ceremony marked the official production start of the Joint Venture.  

DAI plans to manufacture the DA40 Diamond Star with G1000 panel for the entire Chinese and selected Asian markets. The Joint Venture aims to receive EASA certification in the second quarter of 2007.

Key personnel from the current Diamond Aircraft manufacturing facilities (Austria and Canada) have been selected as the responsible managers and initial certifying staff for the China manufacturing facility.

Furthermore, a comprehensive training program has already started to train the Chinese personnel in all aspects of production, quality assurance, inspection and testing of the DA 40 Diamond Star aircraft. The training takes place at both Diamond Aircraft manufacturing facilities (Austria and Canada).