A life-saving rocket ejection seat made in China is expected to extricate more foreign pilots and crew in dire emergencies, thanks to an export deal signed yesterday in this coastal city in Guangdong Province, reported China Daily on Wednesday.

The Aerospace Life-Support Industries Ltd (ALI), based in Xiangfan in Hubei Province, signed a contract with the China National Aero-Technology Import-Export Corp Group to sell another 100 TY7A rocket ejection seats abroad, ALI President Luo Qunhui said yesterday.

The contract also seeks to export ALI's personal protection and parachute products through the company. The deal followed sales of 100 such "life-savers" in five Asian and African countries by 2003, Luo said.

Mostly used in military aircraft, an ejection seat is a sophisticated system designed to rescue the pilot or other crew members in case the aircraft is in imminent danger, experts said.

In ALI's design, the seat is catapulted out of the aircraft by a rocket motor pack carrying the pilot with it. Upon clearing of the aircraft in distress, the seat deploys a parachute to descend to the ground safely.

"China's rocket-propelled seat is on par with foreign advanced ejection seats," Luo said. "Some of its functions are even superior to foreign counterparts."

The products have been exported to countries including Myanmar, Namibia, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe and the Sudan.

The new TY7A seats will be fitted on K-8 series trainers China exports to developing countries, he said.

China began to use TY7A seats in its exporting K-8 planes, to replace the British company Martin-Baker's ejection seats in 1998, according to the Chinese company officials.

Martin-Baker seats reportedly saved 7,028 lives through December last year.

The ALI company declined to specify how many pilots had successfully survived crashes by using the TY7A rocket-powered seat or a score of other models it has developed over the past decade.

ALI Vice-President Zhang Guangjian said the seats have monopolized the Chinese military plane market and have been selling well to foreign countries.

They have proven highly reliable and saved "many lives," he said.

In addition to reliability, the Chinese products are competitive in price, maintenance and technical support, he said.

The company is showing its rocket ejection seats, life-jackets and personal protection products, including those for head protection, temperature regulating and nuclear-biochemical protection, at the ongoing fifth Air Show China, which runs until Sunday.