Under terms of the agreement, Chongqing XinXang Fengneng will be the majority owners, and gears will be produced in a new manufacturing facility in Chongging, China.

The company has 16 years experience manufacturing gears in the automotive and motorcycle industries through its subsidiary company, Chongqing Xinxing Fengneng. GE Drivetrain Technologies has provided drive train components to the wind turbine industry since 2004.

Initially, the new company will manufacture gears for GE Drivetrain Technologies’ wind turbine gearbox production facility in Shenyang, China. GE Drivetrain Technologies and A-Power Energy Systems announced the development of the facility as part of a joint venture agreement in January this year.

“We are pleased to enter this partnership with GE Transportation because of its renowned engineering expertise and global presence,” says Xingming Li, Chief executive of Chongqing XinXing Fengneng Investment .

“This agreement is an exciting opportunity to expand our product line and customer base,” he adds. “And a great chance to upgrade our existing products and improve our management skills as we continue our proud tradition of manufacturing high precision gears.”

GE officials said the new partnership is a key building block in a larger strategy to grow wind drivetrain business in China and the Asia Pacific region by integrating the company’s gear manufacturing supply chain. It also ensures a secure supply of high quality gears to our Shenyang-based gearbox assembly plant, they say.

This agreement signifies GE’s commitment to development of a local Chinese supply chain and supports China’s initiative to increase wind energy output from one gigawatt in 2005 to 100GW by 2020.

GE Drivetrain Technologies earlier this year announced the launch of a wind generator and control systems division to complement its existing gearbox business.