Amsterdam, Paris, 11 June 2004
During the visit by Mr Zeng Peiyan, Vice-Premier of the Republic of China, to France, two major contracts were signed by subsidiaries of EADS in the presence of Mr Jean-Pierre Raffarin, the Prime Minister of the French Republic, and Philippe Camus, CEO of EADS: the first concerned the official signing by Fabrice Brégier, Chairman of Eurocopter, of the contract for the assembly in China of the EC 120 helicopter; the second concerned the signing by Noël Forgeard, Chairman of Airbus, of an order for twenty high capacity Airbus A330-300 aircraft.
On this occasion, Philippe Camus declared: “These successes are the result of the strategic will that Rainer Hertrich and myself have expressed and which consists in developing several commercial and industrial links with the various components of the Chinese aeronautics and space industry. I am very proud that the efforts of the Airbus, Eurocopter and EADS International teams have been rewarded today”.
Following the visit to China by Jean-Pierre Raffarin in China and the impetus initiated by Philippe Camus (Memorandum Of Agreement concluded in November 2003 in Beijing), these official signatures reinforce relations between the Chinese and European aeronautics industries. They also fall into line with the EADS location strategy on Asian markets, in particular in China, as illustrated by a 5% stake taken in AviChina, the aeronautics manufacturer, in September 2003.
These two new contracts illustrate the excellent relations between the European EADS group and the Chinese aerospace industry. They augur well for other projects such as security and surveillance systems (namely with a view to the 2008 Olympic Games and the Universal Exhibition of Shanghai in 2010) and space systems with the Galileo programme, etc.
EADS is a global leader in aerospace, defence and related services. In 2003, EADS generated revenues of € 30.1 billion, with more than 109,000 employees worldwide. The EADS Group includes the aircraft manufacturer Airbus, the world's largest helicopter supplier Eurocopter and the joint venture MBDA, the second largest missile producer in the global market. EADS is the major partner in the Eurofighter consortium, is the prime contractor for the Ariane launcher, develops the A400M military transport aircraft and is the largest industrial partner for the European satellite navigation system Galileo.
