PITTSBURGH — Alcoa is partnering with a Chinese company to build lighter, more environmentally friendly buses.

Alcoa and the Zhengzhou Yutong Bus Company hope to have prototypes of the buses ready in time for the 2008 Summer Olympic Games.

The first goal of the partnership is developing a new design that will make buses up to 20 percent lighter than current models.

Yutong Bus is China's largest bus manufacturer.