In August 2008, Tianjin Airbus A320 GeneralAssembly Line was put into operation. Everythinggoes well for the moment. It is expectedthat Sichuan Airlines will take delivery of thefirst aircraft in 2009. By 2011, the productivityof the Assembly Line will have reached 4 aircraftsper month and more than 600 employeeswill be working at the line.

Tianjin Airbus A320 General Assembly LineProject was approved by State Council to setup in Tianjin Binhai New Area in May 2006. It isan example of successful cooperation betweenChina and Europe. The project includes generalassembly, spray painting, adjustment processand test flight. The area is 600,000 square meters,covering 7 sub-projects such as generalassembly factory, spray painting workshop,power station, aircraft storehouse, assemblyequipment, outdoor facility and infrastructure.There are 19 entity architectures and otherconstructions as well.

Since the end of 2005, Airbus has joined handswith the National Development and ReformCommission, conducting field surveys in Tianjin,Shanghai, Xi’an and Zhuhai for site selection.Finally, Airbus selected Tianjin Binhai New Area.

On October 26, 2006, Presidents of China andFrance witnessed a cooperative frameworkagreement signed between the two parties inBeijing. Tianjin Airbus A320 General AssemblyLine is the first one of its kind to locate outsideEuropean continent.

The reason why Tianjin could win the siteselectioncompetition is that it has uniquegeographical advantage: the Binhai New Areais located in the center of Bohai Bay linkingNorth, Northeast and Northwest China. At theearly start of the Eleventh Five-Year Plan, theState brought forward the notion of “promotingthe development of the Binhai New Area”, indicatingthe importance of raising internationalcompeting power of Jing-Jin-Ji (Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei) and balancing the current economicsituation of “rich in South, poor in North”.

The orientation of Binhai New Area is to becomea R&D and technology transformationhub. The establishment of Airbus A320 GeneralAssembly Line here is the best recognition ofits orientation.

On May 15, 2007, the assembly line factorystarted construction. Tianjin became thefourth city in the world to own a trunk-line aircraftassembly line after Seattle (US), Toulouse(France) and Hamburg (Germany). At the openingceremony, Airbus CEO pointed out that thestandard of aircrafts to be made and deliveredin China is the same as that of Europe; thereis no difference at all, compared with aircraftsmanufactured in other countries.

Everything goes well for the moment. Preparationfor the assembly of first aircraft is goingon smoothly.

By the end of 2015, the quantity of aircraftsmanufactured by Airbus in China will havereached about 247, all of which will be solddomestically. Aircrafts made after 2015 may besold in nearby regions or countries.

Airbus, a leading civil aircraft manufacturer inthe world, was established in Toulouse, Francein 1970.