Shenzhen – Airbus is speeding up its innovative approach in China, with plans to invest tens of millions of euros in the Airbus China Innovation Centre (ACIC) based in “China’s Silicon Valley” Shenzhen, South China’s Guangdong Province.

Airbus has enjoyed its deep cooperation strategy in an opening China, voluntarily transferring part of its technology to expand market, and it’s why the company is keen to promote further cooperation, analysts said.

ACIC was the company’s second global innovation center after the one in Silicon Valley. The Chinese facility, established in 2017, is planning to invest tens of millions of euros to start a brand new office at the beginning of 2019, thepaper.cn reported on Tuesday.

The center has made progress in key programs including onboard hardware, cabin experience, onboard interconnections, smart manufacturing and urban air traffic, the report said.

ACIC has started cooperation with a series of Chinese companies, including flexible display manufacturer Royole Technology and China Mobile Intelligent Mobility Network Technology. It also plans to cooperate with navigation network company Beidou and tech giant Huawei.

China needs about 8,575 aircraft worth $1.2 trillion during the next two decades, the Commercial Aircraft Corp of China has estimated. Experts said this is a big opportunity for Airbus and Boeing, as China’s domestically developed planes are still not in operation. (Global Times)