People
Eric Chen appointed chairman of Airbus China
January 12th 2018
Eric Chen, previously president of Airbus Commercial Aircraft China, has succeeded Laurence Barron as chairman of Airbus China. Read More »
At the same time, George Xu was appointed CEO of Airbus China, responsible for all Airbus Commercial Aircraft activities and for leading the group's helicopters, defence and space units on the Mainland.
“It’s my privilege to have been working with Airbus for more than 20 years. As the Chairman of Airbus China, I will continue to support Airbus development in China. We have a dynamic team here, and with fresh blood like George joining our management team, I look forward to an even more promising future for Airbus China,” said Chen. Chen was the first Chinese national to be employed by the European OEM.
“I feel honoured to re-join Airbus China as its CEO. China has the largest Airbus fleet in the world and will continue as one of the fastest growing aviation markets in the next decades. My predecessors and the Airbus China team have achieved great successes in China. I commit to keeping the momentum going and to continue working closely with our teams to achieve new successes. I am confident China will continue to play a key role in Airbus’ global strategy,” said new CEO, George Xu.
Xu enjoys close ties with the Mainland government. He started his career in the Tianjin Economic and Technology Development Area Administrative Committee in 1995 and was promoted to Deputy Director of the Investment Promotion Bureau of the Tianjin Free Trade Zone in 2003, before becoming Director of the Bureau in 2005.
Xu has held senior positions at Airbus’ Tianjin A320 Final Assembly Line, including chairman of the A320 FAL board and, in parallel, vice-president of the Tianjin Free Trade Zone Administrative Committee from 2011-2014. That same year, Xu also became Party Secretary of the Tianjin Youth League.
