Airbus to procure US$1b worth of aircraft parts from China by 2020

Airbus will double its annual procurement from China in five years as the plane maker plans to make the country its most important overseas production centre, said chief executive Fabrice Brégier.

"We'll procure this year the equivalent of US$500 million from China … I think we can reasonably consider that doubling this number by around 2020 is achievable," Brégier told the South China Morning Post.

Airbus had said last October that it was studying the possibility of adding a cabin completion and delivery centre for the widebody A330 jet in Tianjin, following the success of its final assembly plant for A320 narrowbody planes there.

Brégier said the potential A330 facility in China may "move progressively" to other members of Airbus' widebody family beyond the A330 and put Tianjin on par with the Franco-German company's current manufacturing centres at home.

"Tianjin would be the equivalent of Hamburg and Toulouse, dealing with A320s as well as A330s and long-range aircraft," he said.

But when that happens would depend on the demand for Airbus' widebody aircraft in China. "We do not invest just for the sake of investing. We are not a charity organisation," Brégier said, adding Airbus and its Chinese partners - Aviation Industry Corp of China (AVIC) and the Tianjin government - are ready to boost production when the market is ready.