Airbus inaugurates innovation center in China

An easyJet Airbus A320-251N takes off from Nice International Airport for its inaugural flight between Nice and Tenerife, in Nice, France. [Photo/Agencies]

Airbus on Thursday inaugurated the office of its innovation center in Shenzhen, southern China's Guangdong province, targeting to join hands with local innovation to create a world-leading innovation hotspot.

Airbus China Innovation Centre (ACIC) is the European aerospace giant's first innovations center in Asia and second worldwide after A3 in the Silicon Valley in the United States.

Aiming to explore and inject innovation vitality into the future of flight, its mission is to fully leverage local advantages including talents, enterprises and ecosystems and combine it with Airbus expertise in aerospace, said Airbus.

"We see ourselves partners in China and with China, with airlines and industry sectors. Here with the innovation center in Shenzhen, Airbus and our excellent partners are creating a new pillar of innovation for China," said Tom Enders, Airbus CEO.

"Shenzhen is famous for its speed, which is certainly good for our company. We need to be more open to innovation at a faster speed," he said at the inauguration ceremony.

As a pioneering city in China's reform and opening-up, Shenzhen boasts global competitive advantages in technology research and development, industrialization and international expansion. It is also a key city in China's Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

With its full operation, ACIC will focus on designing, testing and certifying new technologies related to five key areas of the hardware lab, cabin experience, connectivity, manufacturing innovation and urban air mobility (UAM).

Airbus and Shenzhen Municipal Commerce Bureau also committed to jointly explore the urban air mobility solutions in Shenzhen.

By the end of this year, Shenzhen is expected to become China's first city to introduce the UAM services with helicopters in joint efforts of Airbus and local partners, according to Airbus.

To date, more than 20 percent of Airbus' commercial aircraft goes to the Chinese market. By the end of 2018, there were around 1,700 Airbus airplanes serving in the Chinese market.