Airbus China Wednesday called on its partners, suppliers and other key players in the aviation industry in China to share its vision to jointly build a green aviation industry.

Addressing the China Eco-efficiency Conference, Rainer Ohler, Airbus senior vice president for public affairs and communications, said that a green industry must be the vision for the future of aviation and joint efforts are needed to make aviation an eco-efficient industry, which means growing and creating value with less environmental impact.

He said this will be conducive to the long-term and sustainable growth of the industry and China's economy.

"There is not one simple solution but cross-industry and international cooperation are the way forward," said Ohler, adding that China has become an increasingly important player in the world aviation sector thanks to the country's continuous economic growth in the past decades.

Airbus is preparing to kick off the application of ISO 14001 environment management systems in Airbus China soon. Airbus China was also awarded a prize by the government of Beijing's Shunyi district for its achievements in water saving in 2007.

"China attaches great importance to environmental protection and the government is enhancing the relevant regulations, aiming to addressing the environmental concerns while keeping the momentum of economic growth," said Feng Yan, an official with the Ministry of Environmental Protection.

She added that, "We fully support Airbus' efforts and encourage Chinese aviation enterprises to contribute to an eco-efficient aviation industry."

China has set goals of reducing energy consumption per unit of gross domestic product (GDP) by 20 percent, and cutting total emissions of major pollutants by 10 percent by 2010.

China recently promoted the State Environmental Protection Administration to a full ministry known as the Ministry of Environmental Protection to step up environmental protection endeavors.

(Xinhua News Agency April 17, 2008)