The first Airbus A319 wing box made in China has been delivered to Airbus by Xi’an Aircraft Company, a subsidiary of China Aviation Industry Corporation (AVIC I).

With a dimension of 16.67 meters by 4.2 meters by 1.0 meters and a weight of 3,500 kg per wing, the wing box is the largest Airbus aircraft component ever produced by a Chinese aviation manufacturer.

The XAC is scheduled to produce four wing boxes a month as of 2009. With the continuing strong demand for the A320 family aircraft, the XAC represents additional capacity to Airbus’ wing production in Broughton, England.

Airbus has a long cooperation history with the Chinese aviation industry, with wing ribs having been manufactured by the Shenyang Aircraft Corporation (SAC) since the 1980’s.

In addition, the Airbus (Beijing) Engineering Center was inaugurated in July 2005 and now has more than 100 engineers.

Airbus has suggested that up to 5% of the A350XWB airframe work be outsourced to the Chinese Aviation Industry.

On June 28, 2007, the joint venture contract for the Airbus A320 Family Final Assembly Line (FAL) in Tianjin was signed between the Chinese Consortium and Airbus.
Source: Beijing Review