China Focus: French school system helps lift China's civil aviation

Huo Baiming, 25, is poised to receive his master's degree from the Civil Aviation University of CHINA and an engineering certificate from a French professional commission in July.

After that, he will settle in Shanghai and work for the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of CHINA, a leading civil aircraft RD and manufacturing company.

"I'm glad to gain a wealth of bilateral education resources," Huo said.

The Tianjin-based Sino-European Institute of Aviation Engineering, where Huo has studied for almost seven years, was co-founded by the Civil Aviation University of CHINA and GEA France (Le Groupement des Ecoles Aeronautiques et Spatiales) in 2007.

This was the first time for CHINA to introduce France's engineering school system, created by the French emperor Napoleon, to its domestic Aviation industry.

Yang Xinsheng, dean of the institute, said they integrated France's engineering school system into their daily teaching model. General courses such as mathematics, physics and French, as well as professional courses related to aeronautical engineering technology and management are taught by a group of teachers from the Chinese side and around 50 teachers from the French side.

"Students need to finish about 5,500 credit hours before graduating," Yang said. "Through years of intensive learning, our students are knowledgeable both in languages and engineering."

Joél Flahaut has been teaching at the institute for over 11 years. He said international cooperation in the field of Aviation is essential and brings mutual benefit to both sides.

"I hope to introduce more advanced knowledge to Chinese students and cultivate more talents with professional competence and international perspectives."

As of 2019, more than 350 graduates are working in CHINA's civil Aviation industry. Among them, five graduates now work as engineers in Airbus (Tianjin) Final Assembly Co., Ltd., a Chinese cabin installation and delivery base for the A320 and A330 models.

Liu Chang from the company's human resources office said they are more than capable of providing tailored technical solutions and improving efficiency in aircraft delivery.

An array of teachers and students at the institute have offered technical support in several important Aviation RD projects in CHINA.

"We hope our students can make more contributions to CHINA's civil Aviation industry," said Bai Jie, vice president of the university.

The bilateral trade between CHINA and France exceeded 60 billion U.S. dollars last year, marking a record high.

CHINA will continue to deepen cooperation with France in many areas such as civil Aviation, and push forward the bilateral economic and trade cooperation to a new level, said Gao Feng, a Ministry of Commerce spokesman.