Airbus China will offer 5 percen of A350's work to China, and the Chinese partner will be selected this year to produce parts for the A350, said Airbus China President Laurence Barron on March 16.

The negotiation is underway and the parts to be produced by Chinese partner will hopefully be announced soon. The Airbus engineering center to be inaugurated this year will foster more elites for aviation industry, said Barron.

According to Barron the Airbus A350 possesses evident advantages, for it features longer ranger, bigger seating capacity and more comfortable cabin. The A350 will save training and maintenance costs for airline companies because of its universal features.

In next 20 years, China will need 1,790 passenger planes with over 100 seats, with total value of US$230 billion. Of all planes needed, super airliner like A380 will amount to 200, Barron predicts.

(People’s Daily March 18, 2005)