China’s state-run shipbuilding conglomerate China State Shipbuilding Corportation (CSSC) has announced that the group and its subsidiary Hudong Heavy Machinery will jointly invest a further RMB629m ($99m) into CSSC Propulsion Research Institute to support the development of its propulsion R&D platform

The investment will be made in two phases, with RMB400m ($63) allocated for 2015 and RMB229m ($36m) for 2016.

CSSC said the investment will facilitate the development of several propulsion projects of the group and accelerate its joint venture project with Wärtsilä. In January, CSSC and Wärtsilä set up a joint venture, Winterthur Gas & Diesel, to jointly develop and promote sales of the Wartsila 2-stroke engine portfolio.