Europe's largest aircraft manufacturer Airbus started construction Wednesday on a new facility to deliver wide-body planes in China, as it faces off against bitter US rival Boeing for market share in the world's second-largest economy.
At a ceremony in the northern port of Tianjin Airbus CEO Fabrice Bregier and Chinese officials officially broke ground for the completion and delivery centre that will produce two A330 planes per month.
The centre is an expansion of the firm's existing final assembly plant for A320 single-aisle aircraft in the city.
It comes with China's economic growth at its weakest in a quarter of a century and concerns over its outlook sending shivers through global stock exchanges.
But Bregier said that "this is not true for our market", adding that increased middle-class incomes and easing visa rules were driving a boom in Chinese air travel.