Among the new Arriva buses which started service in Malta on Sunday, 174 are custom-built vehicles manufactured by Xiamen King Long United Automotive Industry Co. of China, accounting for 66% of the whole fleet.

As the leading bus and coach manufacturer in China, King Long won the contract in January and later delivered to Arriva Malta in May 49 new nine-metre buses and 125 new 12-metre buses.

All the buses are diesel-driven, low-floor vehicles providing wheelchair access and equipped with Euro V engines, air conditioning, comfortable seating with adequate legroom and real-time passenger information displays including next scheduled stop announcements.

The contract with Arriva Malta has registered a record sale of over €15m for King Long, so far the largest by a Chinese bus producer to an EU member state and represented a major breakthrough of the Chinese homegrown brands in the EU auto market, newsagency Xinhua said.