Xinhua Headlines: Airbus expands China presence via new assembly line

* Airbus on Wednesday inaugurated its latest Final Assembly Line (FAL) for A320 family aircraft in Tianjin, the second of its kind in China and Asia as a whole.

* The new facility will double final assembly capacity for the A320 family in China, demonstrating Airbus' confidence in the country's thriving civil aviation market, resilient supply chain and favorable business climate.

* The new facility is the latest example of foreign enterprises expanding investment in China in recent years.

TIANJIN, Oct. 22 (Xinhua) -- Airbus on Wednesday inaugurated its latest Final Assembly Line (FAL) for A320 family aircraft in the northern Chinese port city of Tianjin, the second of its kind in both China and Asia as a whole.

The new facility will double final assembly capacity for the A320 family in China, demonstrating Airbus' confidence in the country's thriving civil aviation market, resilient supply chain and favorable business climate.

Via the FAL, A320 planes will be assembled from large components like fuselage sections and wings, painted, tested and delivered to customers in China and beyond, said Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury.

Preparations for assembly of the first plane are underway.

"We welcome the addition of Tianjin's second line to our global production system, as it provides us with the necessary flexibility and capacity to deliver on our plan to assemble 75 A320 family aircraft per month in 2027," Faury said at the inauguration ceremony.

Currently, the Airbus A320 family production network features a total of 10 FALs -- four in Germany, two in France, two in the United States and two in China, with assembly capacity in Tianjin set to contribute 20 percent of the company's total globally.

CHINA SPEED

In April 2023, the Tianjin municipal government, the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) and Airbus signed a framework agreement for the second FAL project, with construction beginning in September of the same year.

"Now here we are just over two years later with a state-of-the-art factory which will serve customers from across China and beyond," Faury noted. "Our talented colleagues and partners here have brought a project to fruition with their famous 'China speed.'"

The new facility covers about 300,000 square meters, with a floor area of roughly 130,000 square meters consisting of 13 buildings. The final assembly hall, as the core building, spans 42,000 square meters, making up nearly one-third of the total floor area.

Construction of the 13 buildings, scattered within the operating plant, mandated zero disruption to flights and production, said Wang Guipu, chief engineer of the project, who is with China Railway Construction Bridge Engineering Bureau Group Co., Ltd.

Wang added that 80 percent of the building materials had been localized, with key materials such as self-leveling epoxy floors and hangar doors sourced domestically. Such localization significantly shortened procurement cycles and provided crucial support for accelerating the construction process.

SOARING MARKET

This additional FAL was established to meet soaring demand in China's civil aviation market, where key air transport indicators continue to reflect robust growth.

Data from the Civil Aviation Administration of China shows that from January to September 2025, the civil aviation sector had handled 580 million passengers and nearly 7.4 million tonnes of cargo and mail, up 5.2 percent and 14 percent year on year, respectively.

Airbus, notably, has been both a witness to and a participant in China's rapid aviation development since it delivered the first aircraft, an A310, to the country back in 1985.

Eyeing great potential in the huge Chinese market, the aircraft manufacturer established an A320 family FAL in Tianjin in 2008, marking its first commercial aircraft assembly line outside Europe. To date, the facility has assembled over 780 aircraft for customers worldwide, mostly from China.

George Xu, executive vice president of Airbus and CEO of Airbus China, said the company's fleet market share in China has surged from around 20 percent in 2008 to over 50 percent today. "China has become our largest single-country market for commercial aircraft," Xu said.

The company forecasts that China's annual average air passenger volume growth rate will reach 5.3 percent over the next 20 years, outpacing the global average of 3.6 percent. By 2042, more than 9,000 of the over 40,000 new aircraft needed globally will be delivered to China.

This robust growth is underpinned by a deep industrial partnership. Approximately 200 Chinese suppliers now support Airbus' commercial aircraft production efforts, covering the entire industrial chain from raw materials to system assembly, a key factor that gives Airbus the confidence to establish an additional assembly line in China.

"The stable and reliable assembly line, high-quality surrounding infrastructure and resilient supply chain have left us feeling very satisfied with the ecosystem here, as well as our Chinese partners and suppliers," said Juan Tubio, general manager of Airbus (Tianjin) Final Assembly Co., Ltd.

DEEPENING COOPERATION

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the European Union.

EU Ambassador to China Jorge Toledo Albinana, who attended the groundbreaking ceremony of the new FAL project two years ago, was surprised by the speed of its construction.

The project is one of the best examples of Europe-China cooperation, which is the result of combined European and Chinese excellence, know-how, technology and innovation, skills and other aspects, he said at the inauguration ceremony.

The new facility is the latest example of foreign enterprises expanding investment in China in recent years, showing confidence in business prospects in the world's second-largest economy.

Data from the Ministry of Commerce reveals that, by the end of June, China's actual use of foreign direct investment since 2021 had reached 708.73 billion U.S. dollars, achieving its 700-billion-dollar target ahead of schedule for the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025).

Foreign-invested enterprises contributed one-third of China's foreign trade, one-fourth of value-added industrial output and one-seventh of tax revenues. They have also created more than 30 million jobs during this period.

While meeting with Faury in Beijing on Tuesday, Commerce Minister Wang Wentao said China's market has continued to expand steadily in recent years, becoming the world's second-largest consumption market as well as the second-largest import market globally.

The country will further advance Chinese modernization and foster new quality productive forces, the minister said, adding that this will create vast opportunities for foreign enterprises, including Airbus.

(Video reporters: Li Shuai, Zhang Yuqi and Hu Zhenze; video editors: Yu Jiaming and Zhu Cong)  ■