EUROPEAN jet maker Airbus Group aims to double the annual value of aircraft components it sources from China to US$1 billion by 2020, the firm’s China chief operating officer, Rafael Gonzalez-Ripoll-Garzon, said Tuesday.

    The Airbus executive’s comment, made on the sidelines of China’s premier airshow in Zhuhai, came as the European firm’s chief rival Boeing said it’s also seeking to ramp up China component sourcing.

    Kent Fisher, Boeing Commercial Airplane’s vice president and general manager of supplier management, said that over the next few years his company is looking to double the US$2 billion worth of aircraft parts it has sourced from China in total over the last 30 years.

    Boeing also said it had signed a deal with Aviation Industry Corporation of China to produce composite tail parts for the Boeing 777 program, beginning in 2017.

    (SD-Agencies)