China continues to move into the Aviation Industry

Deutsche Welle reports that European aviation firm Airbus has received its first plane manufactured in China. Airbus has expanded into China to supply that country's growing aviation market.

The Tianjin plant, which opened in September 2008, is modelled after a state-of-the-art Airbus factory in Hamburg, Germany. The plant is a joint venture between Airbus and a Chinese aviation consortium and costs some 10 billion yuan ($1.47 billion).

China has been an Airbus customer since 1985. Since then, Chinese orders have exceeded 700 aircraft and will be supplemented by a further 10 models, scheduled to leave the Tianjin plant by the end of the year. Come 2011, the factory is expected to be turning out 4 aircraft per month.

The Chinese aircraft market is the second largest in the world and already accounts for 15 percent of the European manufacturer's total sales. Chinese carriers are expected to purchase as many as 3,400 new aircraft in the coming two decades, and Airbus hopes to cash in on this by capturing half the Chinese market by 2012.

The article goes on to point out that Airbus should not be too optimistic about its position in the Chinese market. It is clear that Chinese firms are accepting contracts and investment from Airbus (and Boeing) as means to create the capacity to become a major aviation manufacturer in its own right.

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