RUMFORD, Maine (AP) Canadian company Catalyst Paper Corp. is selling its U.S. operations including paper mills in Rumford, Maine, and Biron, Wisconsin, to a Chinese company.

A subsidiary of Nine Dragons Paper announced Friday that it’s paying $175 million for the mills and an operations center in Dayton, Ohio.

Ned Dwyer, Catalyst president and CEO, said the sale of the company’s U.S. assets allows the company to pay down debt and focus on operations in British Columbia.

Yan Cheung, Nine Dragons’ chairwoman, said the company is committed to making the mills globally competitive. Nine Dragons’ major focus is on recycled paper, but it also operates conventional pulp mills like those it’s buying in Maine and Wisconsin.

The deal is expected to close in the second quarter.