The first aircraft delivered in the Boeing 737 Completion and Delivery Center arrives at the Zhoushan Putuoshan Airport in Putuo district, Zhoushan, East China's Zhejiang province on Nov 9, 2018. [Photo/IC]

An aero-engine lease agreement, with an expected value of over 100 million yuan ($14.6 million), was recently inked in Putuo district, Zhoushan, East China's Zhejiang province. 

Reached between the Putuo-based Zhejiang Konggang Finance Lease Co and the Hangzhou-based ZheJiang Loong Airlines Co, the deal marks the first time that aero-engine lease business has been conducted in the district.

It also signifies a new breakthrough in the district for its finance lease industry, which used to focus on ship or real estate lease instead of aircraft or aviation equipment lease, a high-level form of finance lease. 

Zhejiang Konggang Finance Lease Co, wholly-owned by the Zhejiang Provincial Airport Group, settled in Putuo in 2018. It is the first finance lease company in the district that has been established by a large provincial State-owned enterprise.

The district has been committed to enhancing its aviation finance lease industry by facilitating the cooperation between the company and airlines in the province and fully leveraging the city's Boeing 737 Completion and Delivery Center.

It will further strengthen the company's business contact with Boeing and the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China, with the goal of delivering an aircraft within one to two years.

Finance lease is a type of lease in which a finance company is typically the lessor who will purchase an asset selected by the lessee and lease it to the latter. The lessee will pay a series of rentals or installments for the use of that asset.