Amid applauses, cheers and fireworks spurting against the night sky, a brand new bus service was officially launched on a grand ceremony here in the capital of Malta Saturday evening.

Among the new buses, 174 are custom-built vehicles manufactured by Xiamen King Long United Automotive Industry Co of China, accounting for 66 percent of the whole fleet.

As the leading bus and coach manufacturer in China, King Long won the contract in January and later delivered to Arriva Malta in May 49 new nine-meter buses and 125 new 12-meter buses.

All the buses are diesel-driven, low-floor vehicles providing wheelchair access, and equipped with Euro V engines, air conditioning, comfortable seating with adequate legroom, and Real Time Passenger Information displays including next scheduled stop announcements.

As from Sunday, new buses have replaced the old ones which have been in use in Malta for up to three decades, outdated and plagued with pollution.

It is widely believed that the launch of the new King Long buses will significantly help reduce the emissions, improve the bus riding experience, optimize the public transport scenario, and ultimately benefit the tourism industry that is vital to the country's economy.

The contract with Arriva Malta has registered a record sale of over 15 million euros for King Long, so far the largest by a Chinese bus producer to an EU member state, and represented a major breakthrough of the Chinese homegrown brands in the EU auto market.