BEIJING - Airbus
Industrie, the European commercial aircraft
manufacturer, has signed a memorandum of
understanding (MoU) with China agreeing to study
the possibility of establishing an aircraft
assembly plant in the Asian nation.
The
move was widely seen as an important development
in the ongoing contest between Boeing and Airbus
for a dominant position in the Chinese civilian
aircraft market.
That struggle has
seemingly been going Boeing's way in recent weeks,
with a large order placed for Boeing 777s by
Cathay Pacific Airlines of Hong Kong last week,
and a huge order for
737s by mainland Chinese
airlines in late November. But Airbus says it has
had 69 firm aircraft orders from China this year,
more than Boeing's 57. Of these, 65 will be
delivered within the year, and 78 are estimated to
be delivered in 2006. In September, China Southern
said it would buy 10 Airbuses, all A330s.
Boeing obtained a head start over Airbus
in China by making its first sale there in 1972;
the European manufacturer only began selling to
China in 1985. According to Airbus, the company's
planes made up 29% of the country's civilian fleet
in October, while Boeings (including aircraft
designed by the former McDonnell Douglas
Corporation, since acquired by Boeing) made up
62%, and planes built in other countries made up
the remaining 9%.
According to the
agreement, signed December 4 during Premier Wen
Jiabao's visit to France, China is likely to
become only the third country assembling Airbus
aircraft after France and Germany. If the plant
goes forward, it would be the first time Airbus
has established an assembly plant outside of
Europe, although the manufacturer obtains many
parts assemblies from elsewhere. Rival Boeing has
never built an assembly plant outside the US.
The MoU was inked between the National
Development and Reform Commission and Airbus at
the southwestern French city of Toulouse,
headquarters of the European plane consortium. Wen
arrived at Toulouse during the afternoon of
December 4 at the start of a four-day visit to
France that is expected to be dominated by trade
issues.
Zhang Xiaoqiang, vice minister of
China's National Development and Reform
Commission, and Airbus president and chief
executive officer Gustav Humbert signed the
document, which sets the framework for a further
upgrade of the cooperation between the two sides.
"We are very pleased to enter into
discussions about possible next steps of
cooperation with our Chinese industrial partners
who, over the years, have developed real
industrial competence on which we can now draw,"
Humbert said. Zhang said the document marked an
important step in industrial cooperation between
China and Airbus.
Airbus' industrial
cooperation with China dates to 1985 when it
signed the first agreement with Xi'an Aircraft
Company to produce and assemble access doors for
Airbus A300/A310 wide-body aircraft in China.
Currently, five affiliates of China
Aviation Industry Corp I (AVIC I) and AVIC II are
involved in producing parts for Airbus aircraft.
Airbus Deutschland GmbH, based in Germany's
Hamburg, develops and manufactures about one-third
of Airbus aircraft and is responsible for final
assembly of the A320 family single-aisle models.
Other Airbus aircraft are assembled in France.
Airbus inaugurated the Airbus (Beijing)
Engineering Center last July and has so far
recruited 54 Chinese engineers. Airbus has also
offered the Chinese aviation industry
participation in the A350 program of up to 5% of
the airframe. Such participation will include both
design and manufacturing.
Wen toured an
assembly plant of the A380 superjumbo, the world's
largest passenger jet which can accommodate as
many as 800 people in an economy-class
configuration. China has ordered five A380s in
time for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.
The
premier is scheduled to hold talks with President
Jacques Chirac and Prime Minister Dominique de
Villepin in Paris to cement the strategic
partnership between the two countries. Industrial
sources hinted that Wen would sign a major order
for medium-range A320 planes.
France is
the first stop of Wen's four-nation European tour,
which will continue until December 10 and also
take him to Slovakia, the Czech Republic and
Portugal.
He will then fly to Malaysia to
attend the ninth summit between China and the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN),
the ninth ASEAN plus China, Japan and the Republic
of Korea summit, and the first East Asia summit in
mid-December.
