Flying with the Enemy

HORIZON ADVISORY

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Actionable Geopolitical Insight

June 2022

FLYING WITH THE ENEMY Risks of Airbus Ties to China

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Table of CONTENTS

Executive Summary

1

Embracing China

3

Seeds of Dependence

7

Military and Military-Civil Fusion Exposure

Disclaimer: The mention of any individual, company, organization, or other entity in this report does not imply the violation of any law or international agreement and should not be construed as such.

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Executive Summary “Airbus is a member of the Chinese aviation industry family. We will always be committed to the development of China’s power to achieve a win-win situation.”

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Airbus China CEO Xu Gang1

Airbus, like most of its international aerospace peers, is heavily engaged in the Chinese market.

But Airbus’s ties to the Chinese market appear to carry outsize risk.

Airbus-China engagement entails significant ties to China’s military and military-civil fusion apparatus, including in the form of supply dependencies, technology sharing, and research and development (R&D) cooperation. Chinese sources suggest that these ties exceed that of Airbus’s international counterparts. As a January 2021 piece in State-owned Xinhua News titled “Airbus’s Tianjin Strategy” summarizes: Airbus’s cooperation with China dates back to 1985…. With the continuous improvement of its market share in China, the scope of cooperation between Airbus and Chinese industrial chain enterprises has continued to expand. The industrial cooperation covers fields ranging from raw material procurement to component design and manufacturing, large component assembly to aircraft assembly…Today, Airbus has overtaken its old rival Boeing in the Chinese market…Boeing has hesitated several times on whether to set up an aircraft assembly line in China; with Boeing hesitating, Airbus made another decision: Continue to add A350 aircraft in the Tianjin Completion and Delivery Center. Unlike other Airbus projects, the A350 project itself has many “Chinese elements.”2 Additional red flags of concern from this engagement include: • • • •

Partnerships – including technology sharing – with military, military-civil fusion, and government entities (e.g., AVIC, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, China Mobile), that risk supporting the Chinese Communist Party’s power projection and surveillance capabilities; Sales – of products as well as information (e.g., satellite imagery) – to Chinese military, militarycivil fusion, and government entities that risk supporting the Chinese Communist Party’s power projection and surveillance capabilities; Localization of production in China that risks inculcating dependence on China among Western industrial and defense industrial bases, while also increasing exposure to technology transfer; Encouraging other multinational companies to localize production in China, and therefore their exposure to similar risks; and

1

空客正在全面融入中国航空产业大家庭 [Airbus is fully integrated into the Chinese aviation industry family], China Aviation Network, September 19, 2019.

2 空客的“天津战略” [Airbus's Tianjin Strategy], Xinhua, January 14, 2021.

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•

Market dependence on China that threatens to grant Beijing leverage over Airbus’s business, production, and technological choices.

The following sections of this report offer a survey of Airbus’s presence in China before detailing specific risk vectors including industrial dependence on China and ties to the Chinese military and military-civil fusion apparatus.

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Embracing China: The Airbus Footprint In 2019, Airbus leadership projected that by 2020, the company’s investment in industrial cooperation in China would be worth 1 billion USD per year, or more.3 This cooperation ranges from raw material procurement to component design and manufacturing, assembly of large components to aircraft final assembly, an innovation center in Shenzhen to a satellite imagery joint venture with the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Such industrial cooperation has not only continued but also increased in recent years – even as international concerns over China’s military, militarycivil fusion, and surveillance projects have grown: In response to the slowdown in the international aviation industry stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, Airbus expanded its production capacity in China;4 in 2020, the Airbus China CEO declared that Airbus “very much hopes to cooperate with” China’s artificial intelligence, big data, and digitalization companies;5 in 2022, Airbus launched an aircraft recycling center in Chengdu and provided communication network support for the Beijing Olympics.6 Airbus operationalizes its presence in China through a set of at least 10 legal entities, five of which are joint ventures with Chinese State-owned, military-tied players (see table) – including and especially the China Aviation Industry Corporation (AVIC), which the US Department of Defense has identified as a Chinese Communist military company and which is on the US Department of Commerce’s Entity List. Those operate a range of projects including: •

•

A joint venture between Airbus Defense and Space-Intelligence in France and the Chinese Academy of Sciences: This was the first commercial supplier of Earth observation satellites imagery and services in China and has supported a host of Chinese government projects in fields ranging from maritime security to natural resources.7 The Airbus A320 final assembly line (FAL) in Tianjin, opened in 2008 as a joint venture among Airbus, the Tianjin Free Trade Zone, and AVIC. In October 2020, the facility delivered its 500th aircraft; Chinese media describes it as “the crown of China's aviation industry and a model of Sino-

3

空客正在全面融入中国航空产业大家庭 [Airbus is fully integrated into the Chinese aviation industry family], China Aviation Network, September 19, 2019.

4 空客的“天津战略” [Airbus's Tianjin Strategy], Xinhua, January 14, 2021.

5 空客：积极促进中欧经贸往来，深化与中国航空航天领域战略合作 [Airbus: Actively Promote Economic and Trade Exchanges Between China and Europe, and Deepen Strategic Cooperation with China in the Aerospace Field], The Paper, November 6, 2020.

6 Ibid; Chengdu joins hands with industry giants to start aircraft "full life cycle" service [成都牵手行业巨头开启飞机“全生命周期”服务], Xiaoxiang Morning News, February 7, 2022.

7 “Airbus in Asia: China,” Airbus. https://www.airbus.com/en/who-we-are/our-worldwide-presence/airbus-inasia/china

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• • • • • •

European cooperation.”8 Airbus statements suggest that all wings for A320 assembly in Tianjin are supplied locally, by an AVIC subsidiary.9 A composite manufacturing center, launched in 2009 as a joint venture with AVIC, that provides composite parts for the A350.10 An Engineering Technology Center, also a joint venture with AVIC, that among other things undertook design work for the A350 – such that, per the Airbus China CEO, the “A350, the world’s largest aircraft, is not only made in China, but also created in China.”11 An H135 final assembly line, located in Qingdao, Shandong Province, agreed to in 2016. This was the first helicopter final assembly line in China established by a Western manufacturer.12 The Airbus A330 Completion and Delivery Center (C&DC) in Tianjin, inaugurated in 2017, which serves as Airbus’s first wide-body center outside of Europe. The C&DC is collocated with the A320 final assembly line and Airbus Tianjin Delivery Center.13 The Airbus China Innovation Center, Airbus’s first innovation center in Asia and second in the world, which focuses on hardware, cabin experience, in-flight connectivity (e.g., Beidou, 5G), manufacturing innovation, and urban air mobility.14 The Airbus Aircraft Life Cycle Service Project, an aircraft recycling facility launched in 2022 in partnership with the Chengdu city government.15

Airbus Legal Entities in China Entity Name Airbus (China) Enterprise Management Services Co., Ltd. Hainan Branch Airbus (China) Enterprise Management Services Co., Ltd. Shenzhen Branch Airbus Helicopters (Qingdao) Company

Date estd.

Chinese Partners

Scope

2021

Management services; management training, technical services, technical training

2019

Management services; management training, technical services, technical training

2018

China Aviation Supplies Corporation; Qingdao Huatong State-owned Capital Operation (Group) Co., Ltd

Receipt of helicopter components, helicopter final assembly services, delivery of helicopters to customers

8

Ibid.; 空客正在全面融入中国航空产业大家庭 [Airbus is fully integrated into the Chinese aviation industry family], China Aviation Network, September 19, 2019.

9 Liu Yingyu, 中外企业深化合作 促进全球民航市场复苏 [Chinese and foreign enterprises deepen cooperation to promote the recovery of the global civil aviation market], China Communications News, October 21, 2021.

10 空客的“天津战略” [Airbus's Tianjin Strategy], Xinhua, January 14, 2021.

11 空客中国公司 CEO 徐岗：空客升级与中国航空业全面战略合作 [Airbus China CEO Xu Gang: Airbus Upgrades and Comprehensive Strategic Cooperation in China's Aviation Industry], Sohu, May 7, 2018.

12 “Airbus in Asia: China,” Airbus. https://www.airbus.com/en/who-we-are/our-worldwide-presence/airbus-inasia/china 13 Ibid.

14 Ibid.

15 Ibid.

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HORIZON ADVISORY www.horizonadvisory.org Airbus (China) Enterprise Management Services Co., Ltd.

Management services; management training, technical services, technical training

2010

Harbin Hafei Airbus Composite Manufacturing Center Co., Ltd.

2009

AVIC, AVIC Helicopter, Tianjin Free Trade Zone, Harbin Economic and Technological Development Zone SASAC

Airbus (Tianjin) Assembly Co., Ltd.

2007

AVIC, AVIC Helicopter, Tianjin Free Trade Zone

Airbus (Tianjin) Aircraft Delivery Center Co., Ltd. Airbus (Beijing) Engineering Technology Center Co., Ltd.

2007

2005

Airbus Safety Communicatio n Technology (Beijing) Co., Ltd.

2005

Beijing Shibao Satellite Image Co., Ltd.

1998

AVIC Helicopter, China Aviation Technology Industry, AVIC

Institute of Remote Sensing and Digital Earth, Chinese Academy of Sciences

Manufacture, production, distribution and sale of composite aircraft parts; research, development, industrialization and mass production of Airbus aircraft projects; procurement of raw materials, equipment and other materials related to company operations; and related technical consultation and technical services.

Receipt of fully assembled and tested aircraft components; aircraft final assembly services; handover of fully assembled and tested aircraft to Airbus Aircraft Delivery Center; maintenance; import, export, wholesale and leasing Certification and delivery of aircraft; provision of flight technicians, engineering support and on-site support of information systems; repair and maintenance; small-scale machining of components and spare parts, modifications and repairs Engineering research, development, design and consulting services; related engineer training services Computer information system integration; technology development, consultation, support and services for electronics and telecommunication products; wholesale, import and export of telecommunication products, electronic products and computer software Development, production, and sale of earth satellite data and graphics, image products and software related to satellite data applications; related technical services and information; import and export; technology transfer, technical support and after-sales service.

Airbus’s presence in China has been established in and through partnership with high levels of the Chinese government. For example, The Airbus-AVIC Tianjin facility was built as the product of an agreement between Airbus and China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC). 16 Premier Wen Jiabao attended the opening ceremony in 2008. 17 In 2007, Airbus committed in an agreement with the NDRC to localize at least 5 percent of A350XWB

16

空客 A320 中国总装线落户天津 08 年交付首架飞机 [Airbus A320 China final assembly line settled in Tianjin, the first aircraft delivered in 2008], Xinhua News, June 8, 2006.

17 空客中国公司 CEO 徐岗：空客升级与中国航空业全面战略合作 [Airbus China CEO Xu Gang: Airbus Upgrades and Comprehensive Strategic Cooperation in China's Aviation Industry], Sohu, May 7, 2018.

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manufacturing, as well as fuselage design, in China, with both taken on by AVIC affiliates.18 In a 2018 speech, the Airbus China CEO noted that Airbus and the NDRC hold an annual summit.19 In 2019, Airbus and the Chinese government signed a Memorandum of Understanding on the Further Development of Industrial Cooperation, agreeing to further expand cooperation in aircraft.20

18

Ibid.

Ibid.

20 “Airbus in Asia: China,” Airbus. https://www.airbus.com/en/who-we-are/our-worldwide-presence/airbus-inasia/china 19

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Seeds of Dependence Airbus’s extensive presence and engagement in China has translated to dependence on China – and both government and military entities in China – as a source of revenue and of production.

This risks granting Beijing both direct and indirect leverage over Airbus’s operations. It also risks granting Beijing points of access to Airbus’s technology and products – and a broader attack surface along which illicit means of access can execute industrial espionage missions.

China is Airbus’s largest market: As of 2019, approximately a quarter of Airbus’s annual plane sales were to China and China’s share of Airbus’s wide-body aircraft sales exceeded 60 percent.21 These appear to include sales to Beijing’s surveillance and military apparatus. For example, China uses Airbus planes to transport its peacekeeping troops.22 Public security bureaus in China use Airbus helicopters.23 In addition to depending on the Chinese market, Airbus also depends, increasingly, on Chinese suppliers: Airbus’s roster of suppliers in China grew from 72 in 2016 to 107 in 2021;24 according to the company, all of Airbus’s current civil aircraft models use components produced by Chinese entities.25 More striking than those overall supplier numbers is their consolidation. In many cases, Airbus relies on companies – including Chinese State-owned, military companies – as sole, or almost sole, suppliers. For example, in 2022, Chinese media described Chengdu Aircraft industry (Group) Co., Ltd., an AVIC subsidiary, as one of only two suppliers in the world for the production of rear boarding gates of A320 aircraft.26 That company also undertakes research and development for China’s domestic military aircraft, including the Y-20.27 According to Chinese media, Harbin Hafei Airbus Composite Manufacturing Center – a joint venture among Airbus, AVIC and the Tianjin Free Trade Zone – has become the sole supplier of the A350-900 aircraft belly fairings, rudders, elevators and S19 maintenance doors.28

21

空客正在全面融入中国航空产业大家庭 [Airbus is fully integrated into the Chinese aviation industry family], China Aviation Network, September 19, 2019.

22 中国第三支维和部队乘海航专机赴利比里亚 [China's third peacekeeping force goes to Liberia on Hainan Airlines special plane], China Aviation News Network, March 11, 2015.

23 一架全新 H155 直升机交付南京公安 [A brand new H155 helicopter was delivered to Nanjing Public Security], General Aviation Online Report, September 11, 2021.

24 从 2021 空客供应商目录看全球航空供应链变化 [Changes in the global aviation supply chain from the 2021 Airbus Supplier Directory], International Airlines, May 27, 2021.

25 “Airbus in Asia: China,” Airbus. https://www.airbus.com/en/who-we-are/our-worldwide-presence/airbus-inasia/china 26 "空客加入成都产业'建圈强链'行动，将给成都带来什么? [What will Airbus Bring to Chengdu When It Joins Chengdu's 'Building Circles and Strong Chains' Initiative?]," The Paper, January 19, 2022.

27 Ibid.

28 中国化的空客：合资工厂供应所有 A350 方向舵 [Chinese Airbus: JV plant to supply all A350 rudders], NetEase, June 7, 2019; 空客正在全面融入中国航空产业大家庭 [Airbus is fully integrated into the Chinese aviation industry family], China Civil Aviation Network, September 19, 2019.

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These supply relationships appear to include partnerships on and therefore transfer of advanced technology – again, to Chinese military entities. For example, Airbus cooperates with AVIC XAC on wing technology, which the Airbus China CEO has described as “core” to the company’s competitiveness.29 China is the only country outside of Europe with which Airbus has partnered on a wing project – also the only country outside of the United Kingdom capable of producing complete wings for the Airbus A320 aircraft.30 As a 2021 article in China Communications News put it: All of the wings for the A320 series aircraft that will be assembled in Tianjin will be manufactured by AVIC XAC. The industrial cooperation between the two parties not only includes wing assembly and system installation, but also extends to the initial raw material link. Today, Airbus has gradually realized the vertical integration of aircraft manufacturing in China, from final assembly to subassembly, subassembly to components, components to raw materials.31 Dependence on Chinese suppliers, and localization of production in China, appear from company statements to be part of a deliberate Airbus decision to integrate more extensively with the Chinese system. “As Airbus,” declared the Airbus China CEO in 2018, “we will continue to spare no effort to support more Chinese companies to participate in Airbus’s global aviation supply chain.” His statements also suggest that Airbus encourages other international companies to expand their footprints in, and therefore reliance on, China: “We encourage traditional European and American supplier systems to come to China, strengthen cooperation with China, and invest and build factories in China,” he said in the same speech. “We have been encouraging Airbus’s traditional suppliers to come to China and cooperate with Chinese aviation industry manufacturers.” Xu points to concrete examples, too, noting that “Airbus has gathered many supplier systems in Tianjin,” including Goodrich, Sotiaco, and Naka.32 Chinese sources further suggest that Airbus’s dependence on the Chinese market has influenced the company’s decision-making, and in a fashion that may grant Beijing increased access to Airbus technology, as well as leverage over its value chain. For example, Chinese media explains that in 2017, Airbus worried that its position in the Chinese market might be challenged by other international players. In order to protect its position, Airbus reportedly forged agreements with the Chinese government to add A350 manufacturing to its Tianjin Completion and Delivery Center.33

29

"空客中国公司 CEO 徐岗：空客升级与中国航空业全面战略合作 [Airbus China CEO Xu Gang: Airbus Upgrades and Comprehensive Strategic Cooperation in China's Aviation Industry]," Sohu, May 7, 2018.

30 2020 年空客与中国工业合作总值将达 10 亿美元 [In 2020, the total value of Airbus and China's industrial cooperation will reach 1 billion US dollars], Civil Aviation Resources Network, September 17, 2015.

31 Liu Yingyu, "中外企业深化合作 促进全球民航市场复苏 [Chinese and foreign enterprises deepen cooperation to promote the recovery of the global civil aviation market]," CHina Communications News, October 21, 2021.

32 "空客中国公司 CEO 徐岗：空客升级与中国航空业全面战略合作 [Airbus China CEO Xu Gang: Airbus Upgrades and Comprehensive Strategic Cooperation in China's Aviation Industry]," Sohu, May 7, 2018.

33 空客的“天津战略” [Airbus's Tianjin Strategy], Xinhua, January 14, 2021.

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Military and Military-Civil Fusion Exposure As the wing case suggests, Airbus’s presence in China extends well beyond market and supply relationships. Airbus also engages in technology cooperation, including with government and military-tied entities – including AVIC, as well as other recognized bad actors like Huawei. Three examples bear this out: Airbus’s extensive partnership with AVIC, its cooperation with the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and its Airbus China Innovation Center in Shenzhen.

Airbus-AVIC Much of Airbus’s engagement in China is channeled through AVIC, a Chinese State-owned aerospace conglomerate that the US Department of Defense has identified as a Chinese military company and the Department of Commerce has placed on the Entity List. The partnership between the two companies is evident in already-discussed joint ventures and supply relationships. It is also evident in capital flows: Airbus holds a 5 percent share of AviChina, the Hong Kong-listed arm of AVIC. This makes Airbus one of AviChina’s major shareholders. Xu Gang, Airbus China CEO, is listed as a non-executive director of AVIC China.34

34

Chinese media celebrates this as a major advantage for AVIC’s international competitiveness: “In 2003, AVIC … sent strategic investment invitations to more than 20 global aviation companies. EADS (now renamed Airbus Group) showed interest and became a potential partner. Subsequently, EADS and AVIC established a strategic partnership. This strategic cooperation not only brought about 34 million US dollars of investment to AVIC, but also enhanced AVIC's "aviation high-tech" concept, enabling investors to increase their confidence in AVIC's future growth, which has played a positive role in the subscription of shares.” (中航科工：引领军工改革 开放拥抱资本 [AVIC: Leading the reform of the military industry, opening up and embracing capital], Aviation Watch, Aril 17, 2021.)

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The AVIC-China cooperation also features technology sharing. China is the only country outside of Europe with which Airbus cooperates on plane wings; all A320 wings assembled in Tianjin are manufactured by AVIC subsidiary XAC, the same subsidiary that develops and produces AVIC’s Y-20 tanker.35 In 2018, the Airbus China CEO described the technology being shared in this wing partnership as “complex” and high-value: “in the past, GE components like this belonged to Airbus’s core competitiveness.”36 In addition, the Airbus Engineering Technology Center, a joint venture with AVIC, undertook design work for the A350. As a result, per Xu Gang in 2018, the “A350, the world’s largest aircraft, is not only made in China, but also created in China.”37 He elaborated on the subject: The cooperation on the A350 follows a completely different model. We have adopted a combination of design and manufacturing. The design work is completed by the Beijing Engineering Technology Center, a joint venture between AVIC and Airbus, and the manufacturing work is completed by Harbin Hafei Airbus Composite Manufacturing Center [also an AVIC joint venture].38

Airbus and the Chinese Academy of Sciences Airbus also partners with the Chinese Academy of Sciences, China’s leading government scientific and technological research institution – including in a joint venture that provides satellite imagery data to the Chinese government.

In 1998, Airbus set up a joint venture with the Chinese Academy of Sciences’s Institute of Remote Sensing. Called Beijing Shibao, that company develops and sells satellite imagery and technology to the Chinese government. Airbus’s website describes Beijing Shibao: It is the first commercial company in the Chinese market to provide earth observation satellite imagery products and services. In more than 20 years of service, Beijing Shibao has provided satellite images of hundreds of millions of square kilometers. Through longterm training and technical seminars, it helps Chinese users to leverage and popularize the latest earth observation technology and has contributed to a number of national-level largescale projects led by the Ministry of Natural Resources, the Ministry of Communications, the Oceanographic Administration, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, and the Ministry of Water Resources.39

35

歼 20、运 20 都出自这，中国 8 大航空工业基地，你家乡能造飞机吗？[The J-20 and Yun-20 Are All from Here. China's Eight Major Aviation Industry Bases, Can You Build Aircraft in Your Hometown?], Sohu, January 14, 2020.

36 "空客中国公司 CEO 徐岗：空客升级与中国航空业全面战略合作 [Airbus China CEO Xu Gang: Airbus Upgrades and Comprehensive Strategic Cooperation in China's Aviation Industry]," Sohu, May 7, 2018.

37 Ibid.

38 Ibid.

39 “Airbus in Asia: China,” Airbus. https://www.airbus.com/en/who-we-are/our-worldwide-presence/airbus-inasia/china

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Airbus’s website further underscores that this imagery can be used to make predictions about markets – and also to conduct maritime security operations.40 In 2020, the Chinese Academy of Science’s Institute of Aerospace Information Innovation recognized Beijing Shibao with an award to celebrate its long-standing contributions to the CAS.41 In addition, in 2018, the Suzhou Institute of Nanotechnology and Nano-Bionics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Airbus (Beijing) engineering Technology Center signed a cooperation agreement to establish an Aeronautical Nanomaterials Joint Laboratory – with a mandate to research nanocomposite material technology for the aviation field.42 And in 2015, the Institute of Metal Research of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Airbus signed a scientific research cooperation agreement jointly to engage in research on additive manufacturing and magnesium alloy anti-corrosion. Chinese media quoted the Airbus China Chief Operating Officer of saying, at the time, that “scientific research cooperation is an important part of the comprehensive strategic partnership between Airbus and China.”43

Airbus China Innovation Center In 2018, Airbus launched its China Innovation Center.44 This is the first innovation center that Airbus has established in Asia; its second after one in Silicon Valley. The center describes itself as “committed to leveraging local talent, technology, and partner resources to identify the next major change that will affect the aerospace industry.”45 Tom Enders, CEO of Airbus, has said that “the center will serve to fully leverage local advantages including innovative talents” and that the decision to set up an innovation center in Shenzhen is hugely validated by the innovation in China. 46 Airbus China CEO Xu Gang has echoed the point, saying that the purpose of the innovation center is to leverage China’s strength in emerging technologies.47

40

“Airbus has world-leading technology and a mature application promotion network in the multi-source, highprecision, high-time-resolution Earth observation satellite constellation. In the context of today's interconnected era, Airbus' rich spatial big data can be used as a gathering point for various information, combined with deep learning, data mining and other technical means, to help decision makers better understand what is happening and predict what is about to happen. For example, based on our imagery data, it is possible to speculate on fluctuations in the oil market, the operating conditions of retail entities, and a quick search for ships in distress.” (Ibid.)

41 空天院召开 2020 年院属企业工作报告会 [The Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics held the 2020 work report meeting of the academy-affiliated enterprises], September 7, 2021.

42 中科院苏州纳米所与空客（北京）合作成立“航空纳米材料联合实验室” [The Suzhou Institute of Nanotechnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Airbus (Beijing) jointly established the "Aeronautical Nanomaterials Joint Laboratory"], Xinhua, September 6, 2018.

43 中科院金属所与空客签署合作协议 [The Institute of Metal Research of the Chinese Academy of Sciences signed a cooperation agreement with Airbus], Chinese Science Journal, December 3, 2015.

44 空客深圳创新中心初期投入千万欧元级别，计划兼容北斗系统 [Airbus Shenzhen Innovation Center invested tens of millions of euros in the initial stage, and plans to be compatible with the Beidou system], December 11, 2018.

45 打造未来飞行——空中客车中国创新中心正式启用 [Building the future of flight - Airbus China Innovation Center officially opened], Civil Aviation, February 21, 2019.

46 空中客车（中国）创新中心在深落成 [Airbus China Innovation Center inaugurated in Shenzhen], February 22, 2019.

47 "空客中国公司 CEO 徐岗：空客升级与中国航空业全面战略合作 [Airbus China CEO Xu Gang: Airbus Upgrades and Comprehensive Strategic Cooperation in China's Aviation Industry]," Sohu, May 7, 2018.

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The innovation center boasts five main focus areas: hardware, cabin experience, manufacturing innovation, urban air mobility, and in-flight connectivity. That latter area has direct military relevance: It includes both 5G ground-to-air connectivity and Beidou, China’s alternative to GPS and a core pillar of Beijing’s military-civil fusion program. 48 Through the innovation center, Airbus has signed cooperation agreements with both Huawei and China Mobile on 5G connectivity. 49 Both companiehave been identified by the Department of Defense as Chinese military companies. The center also boasts a Beidou system application team.50

48

Airbus China Innovation Center, Airbus. https://www.airbus.com/en/innovation/innovation-ecosystem/airbuschina-innovation-centre/airbus-china-innovation-centre-zh 49 空客深圳创新中心初期投入千万欧元级别，计划兼容北斗系统 [Airbus Shenzhen Innovation Center invested tens of millions of euros in the initial stage, and plans to be compatible with the Beidou system], December 11, 2018.

50 空客深圳创新中心初期投入千万欧元级别，计划兼容北斗系统 [Airbus Shenzhen Innovation Center invested tens of millions of euros in the initial stage, and plans to be compatible with the Beidou system], December 11, 2018.

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