Safran in China

Building on more than a century of relations with China, Safran is now a major player in the Chinese civil aviation markets.

Since the opening of a representative office in Beijing at the end of the 1980s, Safran has formed strong ties with the major players in the Chinese industry and this mutual trust is reflected by long-term collaboration with both partners and customers. Over the last 40 years, Safran has built up a strong presence in China, spanning production, training, maintenance, sales and marketing. Today with over 20 entities and more than 2000 people operating in China, Safran is a major player in all segments, from airplane and helicopter engines, landing and braking systems, nacelles, wiring, flight control systems, power transmission systems to aero sytems, aircraft seats and cabin, etc.

More than

70%

of narrow-body aircraft in service and on order in Greater China

are or will be operated with CFM56®/LEAP® engines.

50%

Chinese-registered helicopters

is equipped with Safran engines or its licensed products

About

50%

of China's commercial aircraft

are equipped with Safran landing gears, wheels and brakes

Around

50%

of the Chinese helicopter fleet is equipped with Safran Electronics & Defense AP155 Autopilot manufactured under licence by AVIC.

Most of

Chinese Airlines

are users of Safran's AGS (Analysis Ground Station) licences

Most of

Chinese Airlines

fleets aircrafts are equipped with FADEC, manufactured by the Safran Electronics & Defense /BAe Joint Venture

World's

leading

manufacturer of power transmissions

(for mainline jets with over 100 seats)

World's

leading

manufacturer of helicopter turbine engines

World's

leading

manufacturer of landing gear, wheels and carbon brakes

(for mainline jets with over 100 seats)

No.1

worldwide

for single-aisle commercial jet engines, in partnership with GE

World's

leading

manufacturer of aircraft wiring systems

No.2

worldwide in aircraft engine nacelles

Ranked among

Top 100

global innovators

by Thomson Reuters

Nearly

11%

of consolidated revenues invested in

R&D

100 Years of Relations

Safran history with China started with the first visit of a Chinese delegation in France in 1910 for a demonstration flight by a Blériot XI powered by an Omega engine, made by Safran predecessor company, Gnome. Three years later, China bought 12 Caudron aircrafts powered by Gamma engines from Gnome. The two countries continued to work together in the following years and Safran has built up a strong presence in China over the past 40 years. There are major steps such as in the 70s and 80s, with the acquisition and production under license of Turbomeca turboshaft engines. The number of agreements has multiplied since then and Safran becomes a major player in the Chinese civil aviation markets. To address the specific needs of its local partners and markets, Safran sets up different kind of partnerships, including subcontracting, co-development, co-production, joint ventures and factories.
 

• Discover Safran's history in China
   
• Discover Safran's museum website

Safran is a major player in the Chinese civil aviation sector, largely based on a sustained partnership policy and local presence in all market segments. Today Safran has over 20 entities with more than 2,000 people operating in China.

Building on more than a century of relations with China, Safran has developed strong local partnerships with key players in aeronautic industry in China such as AVIC, COMAC, Airlines, First Institute of MPS, GE, Honeywell, and education partners. 

Based on a sustained partnership policy and local presence in all market segments, Safran is today a major player in the Chinese civil aviation sector and is largely involved in major Chinese aircraft programs such as C919, MA700 and ARJ21.

Safran's purchasing policy

With annual purchases exceeding 8 billion euros, Safran applies a purchasing policy that helps meet our strategic objectives of excellence, competitiveness and innovation.

Our policy is anchored in long-term relationships and sharing methods and values with our suppliers, plus supporting them on a daily basis. 

Rudy Burbant / CAPA Pictures / Safran

Philippe Stroppa / Safran

Philippe Stroppa / Safran

Meeting regulatory requirements and supporting long-term relationships

Safran's purchasing policy is in line with our commitment to excellence and competitiveness, and is fully consistent with our industrial policy and CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) strategy.

The aim of our purchasing policy is to focus on suppliers who meet our requirements and comply with the specific regulations governing the aerospace, defense and security markets. Our suppliers are also expected to make a long-term commitment to Safran through a balanced, mutually beneficial relationship.

Four main thrusts

Safran's purchasing policy has four main thrusts:

• Develop a group of suppliers capable of:
  • Meeting Safran's current and future performance needs, in terms of cost, quality and deadlines, along with technological expertise and innovation.
  • Guaranteeing that Safran's CSR strategy will be applied throughout the supply chain at their level, notably working with sheltered workshops and adapted enterprises.
     
• Foster suppliers' involvement early in Safran's development programs, to make sure we can meet all customer requirements, by allowing our suppliers to:
  • Propose their own innovations.
  • Bring all their expertise to the table so we can design and build the best and most cost-effective Safran products, in line with our health, safety and environment (HSE) standards.
     
• Promote procedures, and management and monitoring tools shared by all Safran companies to improve the operation of our supply chain and relations with suppliers.
   
• Support key suppliers to help them adapt their organizational structure to meet Safran's expectations and changing market requirements.

Safran's purchasing policy

Safran's purchasing policy is deployed according to the following principles:

• In line with Safran's Code of Ethics and best practices listed in the Business Mediation Charter.
   
• In compliance with Safran's commitments to public authorities, trade associations and other partners.
   
• Based on:
  • ongoing collaboration between Safran companies and the corporate purchasing culture and network;
  • coordinated actions by all Safran staff working with suppliers;
  • involvement of the Purchasing department throughout our products' life cycles.
     
• Each Safran company has its own Purchasing department, which adapts the corporate purchasing policy to the specific requirements of its own markets. Each entity is responsible for managing its own production purchases. 

Working with Safran

Working together to boost performance

Safran expects our suppliers to engage in proactive continuous improvement to improve performance and competitiveness. In return, we work closely with our suppliers to help them achieve these goals.

Thierry Schneider / Safran