A Chinese train manufacturer has agreed to sell railway equipment to Estonia, marking China's first such sale in the European Union, state media reported Wednesday.

A subsidiary of China North Locomotive and Rolling Stock Industry Corporation (CNR) last week signed an agreement with Estonia's AS EVR Cargo to supply 16 shunting locomotives in the next two years, China News Service said.

Shunting locomotives are used to move railway cars.

The report quoted an unidentified official at state-owned CNR saying it was the first time a member of the European Union had imported Chinese-made railway equipment.

The financial details of the deal were not provided and repeated AFP calls to CNR went unanswered.

There had been fears that a recent deadly high-speed train crash in China would hamper foreign demand for Chinese-made trains and railway equipment.

The crash near the eastern city of Wenzhou on July 23 killed 40 people and injured nearly 200 others and was the country's deadliest high-speed accident.

Since then, the Chinese state-owned company that made the trains involved in the crash -- China South Locomotive and Rolling Stock Corp (CSR) -- has signed a 2.54 billion yuan ($395 million) contract to provide trains to Turkmenistan. A few days after the accident, CSR said it had received six contracts to provide locomotives worth 6.9 billion yuan -- or 10.6 percent of its 2010 revenue -- to unnamed local and overseas firms.

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