Airbus's expanding industrial footprint in north China's port city of Tianjin is opening new opportunities for Chinese high-end manufacturers to increase their share of the global aviation market, as the company deepens cooperation with local suppliers across the aircraft lifecycle.
The assembly plant in Tianjin is one of Airbus' four aircraft final assembly bases worldwide and the company's first final assembly line outside Europe.
That cooperation reached a new milestone on Wednesday, when Airbus delivered the first aircraft assembled at its new final assembly line for A320 family aircraft in Tianjin, the second of its kind in both China and Asia.
The delivery represents a major milestone in Airbus' industrial footprint expansion in China and across its global industrial system, the company said.
"Airbus's presence has driven the localization of the aviation industry chain. According to our statistics, there are about 23 Chinese and foreign companies in Tianjin that are now supporting the Airbus project, delivering their products directly to the Airbus final assembly line. It has also driven the gathering of the entire aviation industry chain in Tianjin, including production, air transportation, logistics services and on-site services, involving more than 100 companies," said Zheng Jian, director of the Aviation Industry Development Bureau of Tianjin Port Free Trade Zone.
In recent years, Airbus has continued to upgrade its industrial layout in China. Cooperation with China now covers the entire lifecycle of an aircraft, from research and design, manufacturing and final assembly, to operational support and dismantling and recycling after retirement.
China's improving equipment manufacturing capabilities and increasingly complete logistics and transportation system -- from the precise transfer of large components to the efficient connection of production processes -- have provided solid support for the landing and development of Airbus projects in China.
"We see on the other side a need for innovation and continual progress, and that's very much what we like and are looking at - to take part in this immense Chinese speed, as we call it, and see what innovation we can take, we can work with and maybe put on the aircraft later on," said Erik Buschmann, chief operating officer of Airbus China.
Airbus' Tianjin assembly line offers opportunity for China's high-end aviation manufacturing
