The last biggest market
New opening-up round will bring great opportunities to Chinese aviation
European aircraft manufacturer Airbus entered the Chinese market amid China’s early reform and opening-up.
From subcontracting work packages to the China Aviation Industry Corp in the 1980s to becoming a highly localized aircraft manufacturer in China, Airbus has gone through tremendous changes over the past three decades.
“Airbus has witnessed the fast development of China’s aviation industry. Airbus’ growth in China has benefited from China’s reform and opening-up [policy] and its economic growth,” Airbus China CEO Xu Gang told the Global Times.
China introduced its first Airbus aircraft in 1985. When Airbus China was established in 1994, there were only around 20 Airbus aircraft in the country, a stark contrast to the more than 1,550 Airbus aircraft currently being operated across China.
In early 1985, Airbus began subcontracting work packages – mainly related to assembly work – to Chinese suppliers, but the raw materials were purchased from suppliers outside China, mainly in Europe and North America, said Albert Varenne, head of procurement of the company.
With the rise in business load, Airbus began cooperating with Chinese suppliers, Varenne said.
Now, almost all Airbus aircraft in the Chinese market, including the A320, A330 and A350XWB families, are equipped with components made in China.
Airbus’ industrial cooperation with Chinese partners varies from raw material procurement and parts assembly, to design and manufacturing, and to final assembly.
Its industrial footprints can be found in many Chinese cities, from North China’s Tianjin, to Harbin, capital of Northeast China’s Heilongjiang Province, and to Xi’an, capital of Northwest China’s Shaanxi Province.
Meanwhile, Patrick Bertin, vice president of Airbus China, in charge of human resources, said that currently, more high management posts are open to Chinese employees.
“At first, most of our employees were recruited from Europe, who then passed on knowledge to Chinese workers. But we gradually spent more efforts fostering our local employees… Sending some Chinese employees to Europe to work there and get trained. Then they came back to China to take higher posts,” Bertin said.
The latest example is Xu Gang, former Party chief of the Tianjin Youth League, who was appointed CEO of Airbus China in January 2018.
Xu is the first Chinese national to be CEO of Airbus China since it was established in 1994.