China's national planning agency has approved Airbus' selection of Tianjin for the location of
its A320 jets assembly line, the first outside the aircraft maker's European base. The
assembly line will be located in the Binhai New Area (BNA) of Tianjin, a northern port city.
The first aircraft is expected to roll off the line in 2008 and four aircraft will be manufactured
every month since 2011, according to a cooperation memorandum between the two sides.
The launch of the assembly line is an important step for the two sides to make long-term and
sustainable cooperation in the sector of aviation. Aircraft manufactured by the assembly line
will meet completely the standards and crafts of its European assembly line, the commission
said.
China has just announced preferential policies for BNA, to develop it into a research base of
modern high-grade manufacturing and an international aviation center in the north, which will
provide a good platform for the development of Airbus' assembly line. A320 is a major single-
aisle aircraft model with 150 seats, which has a great market demand. It has been predicted
that China's civil aviation sector will need more than 100 new aircraft every year. In the next
15 years, about 1,200 new aircraft will be needed by China's civil aviation sector. Airbus
entered China's aviation market in 1985, seeing the number of its aircraft in China up by ten
times in the past ten years.
For the moment, Airbus has taken 39 percent of China's civil aviation market shares, with the
remaining 61 percent going to Boeing. Insiders said that Airbus' launch of assembly line in
China would lead to fiercer competition between the two aircraft giants in China. Experts said
that the launch of the line marks an important step for China in manufacturing large aircraft,
and also indicates the adjustment of China's strategies for manufacturing large aircraft.
China has put forward the plan of large aircraft manufacturing in its 11th five-year development
plan, which has also been listed as a major project in the country's long and mid-term
development plan for science and technology. The assembly line, to some extent, will promote
China's innovation in aircraft manufacturing and help improve concerned technologies.
On 16 May 2007, we were honored to have a tianjin port mission visiting Hong Kong Productivity
Council to introduce the investment opportunities in the Binhai New Area (BNA) of Tianjin,
including the Tianjin Free Trade Zone, Airport Industrial Park, Airport Logistic Area.
The mission group consisted of high profile officers leading by Mr Shen YuanKang, Professor
and Senior Consultant of Administration Committee of Binhai New Area Tianjin Municipal
Government and Mr William Wei, Vice President of Tianjin Municipal Government, Port Fee
Trade Zone and Airport Industrial Park Administrative Committee.
The meeting was hosted by Mr Weiman Chu, Director of Manufacturing Productivity Branch,
Hong Kong Productivity Council, Mr Jackson ho, President of Hong Kong Aviation Industry
Association and Mr Thomas Lee, Principal Consultant of Manufacturing Technology Division,
Hong Kong Productivity Council. Over 20 HKAIA members had joined the event. In the meeting,
Mr Shen and Mr Wei talked about the great potential of China's aviation market and detailed the
overview and layout of the Tianjin airport and the surrounding zones which were the Tianjin Free
Trade Zone, Airport Industrial Park and Airport Logistic Area. They presented the strategic
responsibilities and future development of Tianjin Free Trade Zone, Airport Industrial Park and
Airport Logistic Area, their advantages, profound potentialities and investment opportunities.
Our HKAIA members also realised the potential of Tianjin, they had raised questions concerning
the investment opportunities, the A320 assembly line, aviation parts manufacturing potentials,
taxes and functions of each zone, etc. to the Tianjin professionals and officers. They had good
interaction and discussion time. Lastly, Mr Shen and Mr Wei invited the Hong Kong industrialists
to visit Tianjin in the near future to have a close look at Tianjin and a more detailed discussion.
For more details of the Tianjin Free Trade Zone, Airport Industrial Park, Airport Logistic Area,
