Eric Chen, previously president of Airbus Commercial Aircraft China, has succeeded Laurence Barron as chairman of Airbus China.

Simultaneously, George Xu has been appointed chief executive of Airbus China.

In his role as country head of Airbus China, Xu is responsible for all Airbus Commercial Aircraft activities and for leading the company’s helicopters, defence and, space businesses in China.

“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 the fresh blood like George joining our management team, I look forward to an even more promising future of Airbus China,” said Chen.

George Xu started his career in the Tianjin Economic & 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, and then director in 2005.

“I feel honoured to re-join Airbus China as its chief executive.

“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 Xu.

In 2005, Xu started to work on Airbus A320 Final Assembly Line programme in China jointly initiated by Airbus and its Chinese partners.