On October 17, the U.S. and China signed an agreement that allows regulators on both side to certify design, production and air worthiness of its airplanes parts and passenger jets.

On Thursday, China’s aviation safety regulator stated it has recently signed an agreement with the U.S. aimed at streamlining the certification of aircraft parts and airplanes made by China.

The development comes in the wake of Commercial Aircraft Corp of China Ltd (COMAC), a Chinese planemaker trying to tap the international market for homebuilt jets, such as the C919 and ARJ-21.

In April, regulators in Europe had said they are in the process of certifying the C919.

This new U.S.-China agreement replaces an older agreement going back to 1995 wherein China had agreed to accept all U.S. aviation products whereas the U.S. had only agreed to accept 23 small Chinese aircraft models and some plane parts.

“The newly signed Implementation Procedures for Airworthiness realizes the full reciprocal recognition of aviation products between China and the U.S. The scope of the agreement covers all types of aviation products and is meant to be comprehensive,” reads the new agreement.

Last Friday, the The FAA said in a statement, the agreement with effect from October 17, allows “each authority to leverage approvals completed by the other with respect to design, production, and airworthiness”.

The CAAC has clarified the agreement does not mean that there will be an automatic recognition of each other’s certification procedures, saying that it would depend on the product and that some accreditation reviews were still needed.