Chinese airlines have placed orders for 35 Embraer 190 jets with a combined value of $1.4 billion, Frederico Curado, chief executive of the Brazilian aircraft maker said.

Curado is part of a delegation of executives and officials accompanying Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff on a 5-day visit to China.

He did not say which Chinese airlines had made the orders but said the first jet deliveries will likely occur by 2012.

Curado also said the company's China joint venture, Harbin Aircraft Ltd, would assemble Embraer's corporate Legacy jet, which he expected to be finished in 18-24 months. (Reuters)