Airbus and China have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on aviation and aerospace, they announced.

The MoU was signed in Berlin by Fabrice Brégier, Airbus COO and President of Commercial Aircraft, and He Lifeng, Chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) of China.

The MoU “strengthens and deepens mutually beneficial collaboration between Airbus and [the] Chinese aviation industry in various fields,” the statement says. Airbus and China will work to support the development of engineering skills and technology innovation in China and also promote the integration of Chinese suppliers into Airbus’ global supply chain.

“Win-win partnership”

“The success of the industrial cooperation between Airbus and China makes itself a model of high-tech and win-win partnership between China and Europe,” said Fabrice Brégier, Airbus COO and President of Commercial Aircraft. “Together with our Chinese partners, we are confident in meeting the new challenges and opportunities and look forward to an even deeper and broader partnership.”

Co-operation between Airbus and China is already ongoing. The Tianjin A330 Family Aircraft Completion and Delivery Centre will deliver its first aircraft in September 2017 and the A320 Family Aircraft Final Assembly Line Asia will start assembly work of A320neo by the end of 2017.

The partners say they will work to address global issues such as environment and air traffic management. They will also broaden the collaboration to include sectors like helicopters.