Airbus Industries broke ground on Tuesday on a major new factory near this Chinese port city, the first outside Europe for the aerospace giant.
TIANJIN: Airbus Industries broke ground on Tuesday on a major new factory near this Chinese port city, the first outside Europe for the aerospace giant, which has high hopes for China's booming market.
The Airbus A320 assembly line in the Tianjin Binhai New Area is expected to start operating in August next year and have an annual capacity of nearly 50 aircraft by 2011, Airbus chief operating officer Fabrice Bregier said.
Bregier hailed the launch of construction, 110 kilometres east of Beijing, as "a major step forward" for the company and China's aerospace development.
"This not only represents a new level of mutually beneficial industrial cooperation between China and Airbus but also demonstrates our long-term commitment to the development of the Chinese civil aviation industry," he said.
"The launch of construction of this final assembly line in China will lead to the commencement of its operations by August 2008 as planned. We will begin to deliver the first aircraft assembled in China in the first half of 2009."
Airbus' commitment to the project reflects the high-stakes battle for dominance in one of the fastest-growing and largest aircraft markets in the world, where it faces stiff competition from US rival Boeing.
Airbus estimates China will need 2,650 passenger planes from 2006 to 2025 and hopes to garner a major part of that market with the A320, the short-haul workhorse model of its offerings.
"For at least the next five, six or seven years, the customers will be mainland Chinese airlines," said Marc Bertiaux, an Airbus China vice president.
"But it is clear that when possible or if needed, this final assembly line will be open to all Asian airlines."
China, however, also plans to build large aircraft of its own so that it will not be dependent on Airbus or Boeing and sees the project as a key part of its broader aerospace ambitions.
Airbus will hold a majority 51 per cent stake in the Tianjin assembly facility, while the rest will be held by newly formed Tianjin Zhongtian Aviation Industry Investment Co., Xinhua said.
A formal contract for the joint venture will be signed next month, said Feng Zhijiang, chairman of Tianjin Zhongtian Aviation Industry Investment Co.
The contract for the project has undergone 17 rounds of talks and was originally expected to be signed in May.
Reflecting the importance of the project to the Chinese government, State Councilor Tang Jiaxuan, a former foreign minister, was present at Tuesday's ceremony.
"Government leaders from both China and the EU have attached great importance to this project. It provides a win-win result and represents a new achievement of the China-EU strategic partnership," he said.
"I believe the A320 final assembly line project will not only enhance the further development of the aviation industry of both sides but also help promote China-EU economic and trade cooperation."
Total investment is estimated at between eight and 10 billion yuan (between one and 1.3 billion dollars), state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
An agreement to build the plant was inked during a visit of French President Jacques Chirac to China last October, with Airbus insisting on a 51 per cent stake in the project.
China's National Development and Reform Commission, the national planning agency, approved the plans for the plant in June 2006, but left commercial details to the companies involved.
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