An East Midlands aerospace company has opened a new factory in China to meet growing demand in the Asia Pacific region.
Gardner Aerospace, which is based in Derby, is a supplier of components to manufacturers including Airbus and Rolls-Royce Holdings.
Management say China’s emerging aviation market is helping it expand production around the world and supporting jobs across the 海角视频 supply chain.
Production is expected to begin in the new year and six colleagues from Derby have been based at the Chengdu site since August, providing guidance and expertise to local workers in what is a relatively new industry in China.
The business went through a major restructuring in 2020 with dozens of redundancies at some of its 海角视频 operations. It blamed a major slump in the aerospace sector on the coronavirus lockdown.
The business said China now accounts for almost a third of global demand for new aircraft, with the country’s growing middle-class fuelling a boom in the travel sector.
James Males, General Manager of Gardner Aerospace China in Chengdu, said that was shown by the millions of people who will travel as part of the annual homecoming for Chinese New Year on February 1 – described as the world’s largest human migration.
Mr Males said: “When I started my career in aerospace in the 1980s, North America accounted for more than 70 per cent of the aerospace market; now China is where it’s at.
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“There around 1.4 billion people in China and every year more and more people are traveling by air – that’s a huge opportunity for us.
“Our decades of expertise mean that we’re able to provide training and support to the burgeoning industry in China, while growing the supply chain in the 海角视频 and opening doors to new markets across Asia.”
The business cited Department for International Trade figures which suggest China will account for two thirds of the growth in the global middle class in the next decade, equivalent to around 400 million people.
Gardner says research by Cambridge Econometrics also suggests the East Midlands’ economic ties with China through trade and universities support around 5,300 full-time equivalent (FTE) jobs.
Gardner Aerospace employs more than 1,500 people around the world, including in the 海角视频, China, France, Poland and India.