[5] In October 2005, AgustaWestland acknowledged that it had also been approached by AVIC II, and that the firm was interested in participating if Eurocopter failed to secure the co-development contract.

[6] On 5 December 2005, the signing of a development contract for the EC175 was announced by Eurocopter and AVIC-II's subsidiary Harbin Aircraft Industry Group (HAIG).

[13] The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) were originally expected to issue type certification for the EC175 sometime in 2013; this was formally received in January 2014.

[17] In April 2014, an agreement between Airbus Helicopters and Avicopter was made for the production of 1,000 EC175; lasting for 20 years, manufacturing is split half-and-half between separate assembly lines operated by the two firms.

[23] Airbus Helicopters is responsible for the H175's main gearbox, tail rotor, avionics, autopilot, hydraulic and electrical systems, doors and transparencies.

HAIG is responsible for the airframe, tail and intermediate gearboxes, main rotor, fuel system, flight controls and landing gear.

CAD allowed Airbus Helicopters and HAIG to create a virtual mock-up, simplifying coordination between partners based 10,000 km apart.

[29][32] The H175 is built for civilian and parapublic applications, its primary markets being support of the oil and gas industry and search and rescue missions.

Other applicable roles include parapublic operations, homeland security, air medical services, utility missions and corporate transportation.

[31] In December 2014, the first production H175s, of the oil and gas industry model, entered service with Belgian operator Noordzee Helikopters Vlaanderen (NHV) for operations over the North Sea; by August 2015, the first two examples had accumulated 1,000 flight hours over 750 flights, carrying a total of 11,000 passengers, while achieving a dispatch rate in excess of 90%.

[38][39] In September 2015, it was announced that the Hong Kong Government Flying Service would become the launch customer for the Search and Rescue (SAR) variant of the H175.