A Sino-French helicopter has made its maiden flight in the French city of Marseilles. The Z 15, known in Europe as the EC 175, is a 7 ton medium class utility helicopter developed jointly by China's Harbin Aviation Industry Group and European consortium Eurocopter.

While the new helicopter was put through it's paces in the French port city of Marseilles – the headquarters of French manufacturer Eurocopter - Chinese and French engineers were watching the event Harbin. Home to the Chinese manufacturer HAIG.

During the development phase, around 50 Chinese employees worked at Eurocopter headquarters in France. Now a staff of 30 from Marseilles France are based in China to assist with design, quality, production and procurement work.

It’s not just the young who’ve been helping out on the ground since the tragedy struck. Amongst the thousands of young Chinese soldiers and civilian volunteers is one who could be the grandfather of many. BON’s Katie Fischer has the story off one of Zhouqu oldest, and most experienced, volunteer rescue workers.

Millions in southern China are displaced after a series of torrential rainstorms have ravaged the region. Rescue teams in many areas are now dealing with post-disaster problems. But there are still some less-fortunate regions that are battling rising water levels. BON's Susan Tart tells us what relief workers are doing to provide aid to victims.

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After the first frantic rescue efforts the emphasis turns to body recovery. And this can be complicated by the fact that the powerful mudflows can sweep even multi-story buildings dozens of feet from where they originally stood. Continuing rain hasn’t made the work any easier. As BON’s Kelda Yuen here, as in most other natural disasters in China, it’s the young soldiers of the Chinese Army - the PLA - that bear the brunt of the task.