The first China-equipped fuselage of the A320 family aircraft has been delivered to Airbus in Tianjin from a Chinese industrial player, Airbus said at the ongoing Airshow China 2021 in Zhuhai, Guangdong province, on Wednesday.

The project, undertaken by Xi"an Aircraft International (Tianjin) Corp (XAT), a subsidiary of Aviation Industry Corp of China Ltd (AVIC), and by local Chinese employees, signifies a new industrial cooperation milestone between China and Airbus.

XAT started the A320 fuselage-equipping work in Tianjin in June. Major components and the internal system components were transported from Europe to Tianjin.

In 2019, Airbus reaffirmed its commitment to its long-term strategic partnership with China"s aviation industry, and signed a cooperation agreement with AVIC to enhance Airbus single-aisle aircraft fuselage equipping in Tianjin.

Meanwhile, XAT has just delivered the 500th unit of an A320 wing to Airbus, the two sides announced at the airshow. The wing-equipping project started in 2009.

"The A320 project has been a model of in-depth international cooperation between Chinese and European aviation industrial players. We have been able to maintain stable, quality and on-time deliveries," said Lu Guangshan, chief engineer of AVIC.

"Looking ahead, we will further deepen high-level strategic cooperation with Airbus and ramp up the production rates. We will take the opportunity to actively integrate ourselves into the global industry chain," Lu said.