Harbin Hafei center's star rises

Harbin Hafei Airbus Composite Manufacturing Center, a joint venture between Airbus Group SE and its Chinese industrial partners, is playing an increasingly vital role in the global supply chain for the European aviation group by producing composite materials components for its A320 and A350 planes.

The Chinese joint venture, with Airbus holding a 29 percent of stake, began with producing A320 components in 2009, including rudders and elevators. It has reached a milestone, delivering its 1,000th locally-made A320 rudder, and now serves as the sole global rudder supplier for that aircraft.

Airbus manufactures 5 percent of the airframe in China of its widebody A350 aircraft, and Chinese engineers participated in the initial research and development work. The Hafei manufacturing plant is responsible for manufacturing and assembling complete sets of elevators, in addition to the rudders and other mid-section A350 parts.