BEIJING, Aug. 21 -- China's civil aviation regulator and its counterpart in Singapore have signed a technical arrangement on aviation maintenance, said the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) on its website Wednesday.

It is the first time that the CAAC has signed a mutual recognition agreement on continuous airworthiness maintenance with another country, the CAAC said.

The arrangement, the Technical Arrangement on Aviation Maintenance between CAAC and Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore, was signed Tuesday in Kathmandu, Nepal, according to the CAAC.

Now 43 maintenance units in Singapore have obtained CAAC maintenance licenses and 26 maintenance units in China hold Singapore maintenance licenses.

The new agreement means that after obtaining the maintenance license from the civil aviation authority of their own country, the maintenance units can obtain a license from the civil aviation authority of the other side through simple procedures, without undergoing an on-site examination by the civil aviation authority of the other side, the CAAC explained.

The signing of the agreement can supplement China's maintenance service system, and helps China's maintenance industry to explore the international market and improve its competitiveness, the CAAC said.