China has become a powerhouse of innovation; Airbus to use its tech expertise to help drive aerospace advancement: company executive

Home>>

By Tu Lei, Fan Wei (Global Times) 16:11, March 10, 2025

"China is pursuing high-quality development in its aviation sector and Airbus is set to be part of it. We are continuously investing and expanding our industrial footprint in this country. For example, the construction of the second A320 Family final assembly line (FAL) in Airbus Tianjin is well underway with jigs and tools ready to be installed into Hangar 209." And, the second FAL is expected to enter into operation by the beginning of 2026.

"China has become a powerhouse of innovation, with a strong and comprehensive ecosystem that includes hardware, software and artificial intelligence," Xu said.

"We are ready to actively embrace China's innovative power and extend this technological expertise to the aerospace sector to drive the progress of the aerospace industry," he added.

From the research and application of advanced materials, to the optimization of air traffic control technology in aircraft operations, from the technical certification of the flight navigation ground based augmentation system, to the localization of big data solutions and the smart factory in Airbus Tianjin Final Assembly Line, Airbus and China are strengthening their technical cooperation.

"China has great advantages in operational efficiency and resilience, therefore, localization and industrial cooperation have always been our strategy," Xu noted.

For example, China's supply chain has shown great resilience while its talent team and product quality are also very competitive. Airbus focuses on deepening and enlarging its supply chain in China with the "local for local" strategy, in collaboration with both state-owned enterprises and the private sector. "We invest in quality work in China in a systematic way and are committed to becoming a model of cooperation in the high-tech aerospace industry between China and Europe," he said.

(Web editor: Tian Yi, Zhong Wenxing)