French-based airplane manufacturer Airbus said the strong business environment in China has offered them opportunities for the aviation supply chains and that they will continue seeking new chances as China is providing a high level opening-up and taking concreted measures to continuously improve its business environment.
China is a very important strategic partner and its supply chain is an integral part of the world aviation industry for Airbus, and the supply chain in China has shown great industrial resilience and competitiveness, which demonstrates its strong capability to take advantage of future opportunities as part of Airbus' ramp-up plans, the company said in a note sent to the Global Times.
Airbus welcomes various favorable policies, which is a positive signal for foreign-funded enterprises. The development of Airbus in China is the result of high-level opening-up to the outside world, with 2024 promising to be a year of opportunities for Airbus to continue developing business and cooperation in China and maintaining strong impetus in the China market, the company said.
The comments came against the backdrop of China vowing to ramp up efforts to attract foreign investment to pursue higher-standard opening-up while promoting win-win and mutual benefit.
China has also vowed to completely remove all the barriers for foreign investment in the manufacturing sector and make it easier for foreigners to live, work and study in China.
The China Development Forum 2024 commenced on Sunday morning in Beijing, aiming to promote dialogue and cooperation between China and the global community on sustainable development.
According to the forecast of the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), in 2024, China's domestic passenger transport market will continue to grow steadily, and it is expected that the annual domestic passenger transport will reach 630 million, 7.7 percentage points more than in 2019.
The international passenger transport market will accelerate its recovery and is expected to reach about 6,000 flights per week by the end of 2024, recovering to about 80 percent of the pre-epidemic period.
Market watchers said that visa-free policies facilitating the exchange of Chinese and foreign personnel will further boost a strong recovery in China's international aviation market.
Starting from March 14, China waives visa requirements for citizens from six European countries, including Switzerland, Ireland and Hungary, another expansion of China's visa-free "circle of friends" to boost exchanges and opening-up.
Therefore, the market demand for wide-body aircraft servicing international routes will increase, the company said.
When asked for the comments to the so-called narrative of "decoupling" from China, Airbus said as a global company rooted in Europe, Airbus supports multilateralism and free trade, and advocates win-win cooperation, as the aviation industry is a global industry, a platform that connects people, places, and promotes cultural exchanges around the world.
The biggest challenge currently facing the sector comes from managing supply chain, because aircraft manufacturing is a long-term business.
China's supply chain has shown great resilience after being tested by the three-yearlong pandemic. At the same time, its local talent and product quality are of good quality and very competitive. "These are China's precious assets and the reason why we are willing to join hands with Chinese partners," the company said.
China's commitment of opening up to the outside world and continuously improving the business environment has aroused strong positive responses among foreign companies and promoted the world to be more closely connected, which is also an important mission of the aviation industry.
Despite the challenges, Airbus holds an overall positive outlook for China's economy in 2024, especially for the high quality development of the scientific and manufacturing sectors.
Jean-Pascal Tricoire, the Chairman of Schneider Electric, also said in a forum held in Beijing on Friday that new quality productive forces are giving more impetus to their business in China.
In his view, accelerating the digital and green and decarbonization transformation of the industrial chain is one of the important trends for Beijing to develop.
Digital technology is fundamentally reshaping the industry. As a practitioner and enabler of digital and decarbonization transformation, we will continue to increase R&D innovation and enhance cooperation with ecosystem, and leverage Beijing's development advantages to further deepen China's high quality development, he said.
