Beijing - Aircraft builder Airbus opened an assembly plant in China on Sunday, its first production facility outside of Europe.
Airbus said it viewed the modern facility in the port city of Tianjin one hour to the south-east of the capital Beijing as a "milestone" in the globalization of the company's production.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and Airbus head Thomas Enders were both present at the opening ceremony on Sunday.
The investment in the plant was between 8 billion and 12 billion yuan (1.2 billion to 1.8 billion dollars), state-run news agency Xinhua reported.
Four A320 Airbus craft are expected to be assembled at the Tianjin plant each month by 2011 at the latest.