Construction of the Airbus A320 final assembly line in Tianjin will be near completion by the end of this year, the northern port city's mayor said yesterday.

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Land requisition and removal for this project was already completed, and the construction of the assembly plant's main body will start this month, Dai Xianglong, Tianjin's mayor, was quoted as saying by the Xinhua News Agency during the Fifth Session of the 10th National People's Congress.

About 700 million yuan has been invested in building the infrastructure of the plant, and a total investment of 2 billion yuan will have been poured into the project by the end of this year, Dai said.

Tianjin beat three other candidate cities last June in a six-month competition to host Airbus' first aircraft assembly line outside Europe.

The plant, located in the Tianjin Binhai New Area, is expected to have a long-lasting impact on both the future growth of the city as an economic center of North China and the country's quest to develop its own large commercial airplanes.

Airbus China yesterday declined to comment and said details of the A320 assembly line were still awaiting the final approval of the Chinese government.

Dai also said yesterday that the expansion of the Tianjin Binhai International Airport would be completed this year.

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