Airbus and its Chinese partners on Thursday signed a framework agreement on setting up an A330 Completion and Delivery Center in Tianjin, northern China, which will be the company's first wide-body aircraft cooperation project outside Europe.
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The signing ceremony was witnessed by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and French Prime Minister Manuel Valls, who accompanied Li's visit to an Airbus facility here.
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The agreement is taking the partnership between Airbus and China a "further step forward" following the establishment of an A320 Family Final Assembly Line and Delivery Center in the Chinese city, Airbus said in a press release on its website.
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The agreement was signed by leaders from Airbus, Tianjin Free Trade Zone Investment Company Ltd. and the Aviation Industry Corporation of China.
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The two leaders inspected a helicopter jointly developed and produced by China and France, half the units of which were produced by Chinese companies.
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Calling bilateral cooperation in aviation and space a good example of China-France and China-EU practical cooperation, Li said such cooperation is not a simple buyer-seller relationship, but rather a strategic integration of complementary advantages.
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During Li's visit, China and France also announced a decision to jointly explore third-party markets for win-win results.
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Li's four-day official visit to France ended on Thursday, during which he also visited the headquarters of the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development in Paris.
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Prior to his visit to France, Li was in Brussels for the 17th China-EU leaders' meeting.