Airbus has delivered the first aircraft assembled at its new final assembly line (FAL) for A320 family jets in the northern Chinese port city of Tianjin, the second such line in both China and Asia, according to Xinhua.

China Eastern Airlines took delivery of the A320neo on Wednesday. The Chinese carrier, which currently operates the largest Airbus fleet in mainland China, was also the country's first Airbus customer, having taken delivery of an A310 in 1985.

Philippe Mhun, Executive Vice President for Programmes and Services in Airbus' Commercial Aircraft business, said the delivery underscored Airbus' long-term commitment to its Chinese partners and confidence in the continued growth of China's civil aviation market.

He Xiaoqun, vice president of China Eastern Airlines, said the two companies have worked together for more than four decades, with the partnership expanding from aircraft acquisition into operational support, maintenance engineering and technical services.

Airbus' first Tianjin assembly line, inaugurated in 2008, was the manufacturer's first commercial aircraft assembly facility outside Europe. Since then, the Tianjin site has assembled and delivered more than 800 A320 family aircraft. Chinese airlines currently operate more than 2,300 Airbus aircraft, about one-third of them assembled and delivered in Tianjin.

The A320 family's global production network now comprises ten final assembly lines: four in Hamburg, Germany; two in Toulouse, France; two in Mobile, United States; and two in Tianjin, China.