Airbus entered China in 1985 with its first delivery of an A310 to China Eastern Airlines. Since then, Airbus has been expanding its footprint in China and committed to forging a long-term strategic partnership with China, emphasizing mutually beneficial industrial cooperation with Chinese aviation industry.

In 1994, Airbus China Company Limited was officially established and Airbus China Beijing Representative Office started operation. In addition to the representative office, Airbus has now four joint-ventures in China:

• Hua-Ou Aviation Training and Support Centre in Beijing

• Airbus (Beijing) Engineering Centre, ABEC

• Airbus A320 Family Final Assembly Line China (FALC) in Tianjin and

• Harbin Hafei Composite Manufacturing Centre located in Harbin

Airbus also has a Delivery Centre in Tianjin, an Airbus subsidiary, next to the A320 Family Final Assembly Line China. The total number of Airbus and joint-venture staff in China is over 1,200 highly qualified employees, from which some 475 correspond to FALC.

Over the past two decades, Airbus has been providing Chinese customers with the most modern and comprehensive family of aircraft in the market. Today, 717 Airbus aircraft have been put into service in China, excluding Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan. In 1995 this number was only 29 aircraft.

To ensure the smooth operation of Airbus aircraft, Airbus has developed a full range of services to all customers in China. Hua-Ou Aviation Training & Support Centre near the Beijing Capital Airport was the first in-country and most modern combined training and customer support facility. Airbus China and China Aviation Supplies Holding Company (CAS) respectively hold 50% of the shares.

The Beijing Centre is part of an Airbus global training and support network, dedicated to provide Airbus aircraft operators with training and support around the clock throughout the year. Since 1997, the CASC/Airbus Training & Support Centre has help China to train some 21,000 pilots, cabin attendants and maintenance engineers. It has also helped to ensure better understanding of operator needs, to reduce their time and costs, and to contribute to thesmooth and reliable operation of Airbus aircraft and airline profitability. The Training Centre includes two full flight simulators for the A320 Family and one for the long-range A330/340.

Besides Beijing, on-site customer services and technical support teams are available in some other major Chinese cities like Xi'an, Chengdu, Haikou, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Shanghai, Nanjing and Shenyang.

Airbus (Beijing) Engineering Centre (ABEC) was inaugurated in mid 2005 with a mission to perform design work for Airbus' current and future aircraft programmes. It was operated as a Wholly Owned Foreign Enterprise (WOFE). From 2008, it became a joint venture between Airbus China Limited (70%), Hafei Aviation Industry Company Limited (HAI, 18%), Jiangxi Hongdu Aviation Industry Company Limited (7%) and China Aviation Industry Corporation I (5%). The Centre is located in the Tianzhu Airport Industrial Zone, adjacent to the offices of Airbus China

A320 Family Final Assembly Line in China (FALC) was established In June 2007 when Airbus signed a joint venture contract with a Chinese consortium comprising Tianjin Free Trade Zone and China Aviation Industry Corporation (AVIC). On September 28th, 2008 Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, together with the Party's Secretary of Tianjin, Zhang Gaoli and Airbus President and CEO Tom Enders inaugurated the Airbus A320 Family Final Assembly Line in Tianjin. Airbus holds 51 percent of the shares while the Chinese Consortium holds 49 percent.

On May 18th, 2009, the first A320 aircraft assembled in the FALC successfully completed its first flight and on June 23rd, 2009, the first ever aircraft assembled in the FALC was delivered to Sichuan Airlines through Dragon Aviation Leasing.

So far, Airbus has delivered 63 aircraft assembled at the FALC to nine Chinese operators. As scheduled, the FALC delivered 11 aircraft in 2009 and 26 in 2010. It is scheduled to deliver 36 aircraft in 2011.

Harbin Hafei Airbus Composite Manufacturing Centre Company Limited is a joint venture between Airbus China (20%) and a group of Chinese partners comprising Harbin Aircraft Industry Group Corporation Limited (HAIG, with 50%), Hafei Aviation Industry Company Limited (HAI, 10%), AviChina Industry & Technology Company Limited (AVICHINA, 10%) and Harbin Development Zone Infrastructure Development Company Limited (HELI, 10%).

The Manufacturing Centre started production in December 2009 with single-aisle work packages, including elevators, rudders and HTP spars. From 2011, it becomes the supplier for A350 XWB rudders, elevators, maintenance doors and belly fairing parts, using the latest composite manufacturing technology based on Airbus standards and processes.

Logistics Centre in Tianjin

On Oct. 29th, 2009, Airbus signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Tianjin Free Trade Zone (TJFTZ) on the establishment of a Logistics Centre in Tianjin to optimise the supply chain management for all Airbus' industrial cooperation projects in the country. The Logistics Centre serves as a hub to manage the transportation to and from China of all goods that are needed for the success of Airbus industrial projects in China.

Airbus is a leading aircraft manufacturer with the most modern and comprehensive product line in the market, it is a global company with design and manufacturing facilities in France, Germany, the UK, and Spain as well as subsidiaries in the U.S., China, Japan and the Middle East.