No fewer than 87 public transport buses (of the 137 that are to be replaced) have been ordered from King Long United Automotive Industry Co Ltd of China.

This was revealed last week to The Sunday Times by Silvan Fenech of local agents Commercial Vehicle Imports Ltd.

With him were Xu Jian Zhong, King Long's assistant general manager, responsible for international business, and Zhang Bin, general manager of the Shaoxing plant where the Malta buses are being built.

Mr Xu, speaking through an interpreter, outlined the development of the company, which is a leader in its field in China, producing 10,000 units a year and exporting to an increasing number of countries including the United States, India, South Africa, the Middle East and Asia.

Set up in 1988 when four major Chinese auto manufacturers teamed up to set up an ultra-modern bus and coach production facility, they teamed up with major international automotive producers to produce state-of-the-art buses.

Using sophisticated computer-aided design, the buses that will be arriving in Malta in the coming weeks and months fully comply with local requirements and are to European standards. The buses are made in four plants around China, and total workforce is 3,000.

The low floor city buses are powered by Cummins six-cylinder turbodiesel engines that are Euro 3 emissions compliant. Their 219 bhp of power is delivered through a German-made ZF gearbox.

According to Mr Fenech, these modern, spacious, comfortable buses fully comply with local brake and emission tests. "Twelve bus drivers are currently visiting the factory in China and have been impressed with how serious this big company is," he added.

While the first bus arrived in Malta last week, two more are expected to leave China this week; 14 at the end of March; 30 at the end of June and a further 25 in the middle of the summer.

Mr Xu is an ISO 9001 company and the first to get the 3C certificate from the National Testing Centre among automotive companies in China.

Asked to comment on the new buses Transport Minister Censu Galea told The Sunday Times last week: "These buses conform with ADT (Malta Transport Authority) standards. They are cleaner, in terms of emissions, more comfortable and cater for the needs of elderly and disabled people.

"The introduction of these new buses is an important step in increasing the confidence of the public in the public transport system.

"Our aim is to get more people to use public transport, and the Government and the ADT are working to improve standards overall in terms of punctuality and the operation of the public transport system in general."

Mr Fenech added that Commercial Vehicle Imports is currently studying the opportunities to sell King Long buses in Libya and the UK.