In July 2008, core parts of the first airplane to bemade in Tianjin Airbus A320 General AssemblyLine were transported to Binhai New Area, indicatingthat General Assembly Project is takinga remarkable leap. Encouraged by the arrival ofA320 project, a good number of aeronautical enterpriseshave decided to set their feet in Tianjin.In addition, the improvement of civil aviationindustry technology platform accelerates theformation of aviation industrial chain.

Tianjin Binhai New Area Aviation Industry Park(also referred to as the Aviation City) is oneof the key functional areas in the Binhai NewArea. The Aviation City is adjacent to TianjinOuter-Ring Road with a planned area of 102square kilometers. According to planning, theAviation City will be build into a modern ecologicalindustry park focusing on aviation logistics,civil aviation industry, aeronautical fair andscience education of civil aviation.

The Aviation city will be divided into sixfunctional areas, including airport operationand guarantee area, aeronautic training andresearch area, China civil aviation technologyindustrialization base, Airport Process Park,Airport Logistics Park and airplane maintenancearea. Besides airport and aeronauticalenterprises, the only comprehensive aviationuniversity in China, Civil Aviation University ofChina also provides technical support to theAviation City.

The planning of the Aviation City could betraced back to 2005. In October 2006, TianjinFree Trade Zone together with China AviationIndustry CorporationⅠandⅡsigned a frameworkagreement with Airbus to set up A320General Assembly Line in Tianjin.

Tianjin A320 Assemble Line is the first one toset up outside European continent by Airbus.As the largest and most advanced aircraftmanufacture in the world, Airbus’ rallyingpower is strong enough to attract a completenetwork of industries around.

Under the influence of A320 project, 11 aeronauticalenterprises have gained their footholdin Tianjin and 30 more aviation industry projectsare in discussion, 10 of which are complementarywith the A320 project. At present, theAviation Industry Park is driven by aircraft assembly,with parts manufacturing and airplanemaintenance supporting with each other.

In April 2008, under the support of Civil AviationAdministration of China, civil aviation technologyindustrialization based-Aviation Industry Parkbroke ground at Tianjin Airport Industrial Park.Its first-stage construction will include a R&Dcenter of 40,000 square meters and an industrialfactory of 100,000 square meters.

Spokesperson for Aviation City indicates thatmore and more airline companies are pouringinto Tianjin with the stimulation of aviationindustry. The air traffic capacity of Tianjin is ona rising level: in 2003, 1 million people; in 2008,an estimated 5 million; in 2015, 10 million canbe expected.

Nowadays, functions of aviation city coverR&D, science education, air transportation,free-tax logistics, commercial exhibition andaviation repair & maintenance.

With A320 Assembly Line Project as the locomotive,Tianjin aviation industrial chain istaking the form; more and more enterprisesdealing with products relevant to aeronauticalindustry are keeping an eye on development inthis field. A complete aviation industrial chainin Tianjin comes into being, with aircraft manufacturingas core industry, aviation leasing andair transportation as back bone, which are alsocombined with aeronautical R&D, manufacturing,logistics and financing.