The Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) has sealed a deal with European aircraft maker Airbus to build a factory in northeast China to jointly produce composite material parts and components for the new wide-body A350 aircraft.

The agreement was signed in Madrid on Jan 30 between Airbus China and Harbin Aircraft Industry (Group) Co. (HAIG), a company under AVIC, in the presence of Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero.

The Chinese side would have an 80-percent stake in the new plant in Harbin, capital of Heilongjiang Province, and the other 20 percent would be held by Airbus, said Beijing-based AVIC.

The 80-percent stake would be divided, with HAIC holding 50 percent and Hafei Aviation Industry Company Limited, Avicchina Industry and Technology Company Ltd and Harbin Development Zone Heli Infrastructure Development Company Ltd each holding 10 percent.

The plant would be completed at the end of 2010, according to AVIC.

The joint venture was part of a 5-percent work package of A350 jets that Airbus had promised for Chinese manufacturers.

On Nov. 26, 2007, Airbus signed a memorandum of understanding with the National Development and Reform Commission of China to formalize a commitment to allocate 5 percent of the A350 airframe to the Chinese aviation industry.

(Xinhua News Agency February 1, 2009)