GE Drivetrain Technologies, part of the giant US-based multinational GE, has formed a joint venture with Chongqing XinXing Fengneng Investment to produce large diameter gears for the wind turbine industry.

Through a subsidiary, the Chinese company has 16 years of gear manufacturing experience in the automotive and motorcycle industries, while GE Drivetrain Technologies has provided drive train components to the wind turbine industry since 2004.

Chongqing XinXing Fengneng will be the majority owner, and the gears will be produced in a new manufacturing facility in Beibei, a satellite town in the north of Chongqing municipality. The companies will invest US$130m in the new project and it should be operational in 2010.

Figures released by the Chongqing government show that the number of new FIEs totalled 316 in the first seven months of the year, down 15 per cent year-on-year. The month of July saw 43 new FIE registrations, a decline of 41 per cent year-on-year.

By the end of July, the number of trading FIEs stood at 4,759, of which 1,490 were wholly-owned foreign enterprises or joint ventures in which the foreign parties held a majority stake.