Dassault Systemes and the Aviation Industry Corporation of China today announced the signing of a contract to establish a Sino-French Industry Joint Innovation Centre that will operate across the complex system lifecycle specific to the aviation industry and its entire industrial chain.

The signing of this cooperation agreement is another major step forward since the signing of an MOU by the two parties in March of this year. Dassault Systemes and AVIC will strive to make the centre a major pillar of the "Made in China 2025" and "Industrie du Futur" cooperation framework through sustained investment by both companies. The Sino-French Industry Joint Innovation Centre will be located in the China Aviation Industry Science and Technology Park of Zhongguancun, Beijing. As of now, both China and France have completed the Innovation Centre's top-level design.

The centre will focus on leveraging resources from both companies to create an innovation ecosystem spanning industry, academia, researchers and users. It will facilitate the introduction of advanced digital technologies to transform the traditional design-manufacture-test model into a new design-virtual synthesis-digital manufacture-physical manufacture model, making it possible to create innovative environments such as immersive experiences (VR+AR), dynamic simulation, additive manufacturing, and multi-robot advanced manufacturing. The centre will serve as an incubator for innovative technologies to be used by China's manufacturing industry, helping to guide and drive China's industrial transformation.

Dassault Systemes is a leading global supplier of 3D design software with strengths in the Aerospace & Defense industry. Its solutions are extensively used by the top 20 aircraft manufacturers in the world, including Boeing, Airbus, Lockheed Martin, Cessna Aircraft and their primary contractors. Dassault Systèmes' solutions have been used by China's aerospace industry for nearly 30 years to help drive the advancement of its domestic aircraft sector, and Dassault Systemes' CATIA suite of applications has become an essential fixture at Chinese aircraft manufacturers.

With nearly 30 listed companies and over 500,000 employees, AVIC is a key partner for Dassault Systemes in China. AVIC has very strong R&D capabilities, with an advanced scientific research system consisting of 33 research institutes including the Chinese Aeronautical Establishment (CAE), a large team of academics and nationally recognised experts, many national key laboratories, and leading science laboratories.

In their nearly 30 years of collaboration, Dassault Systemes and AVIC have extensively applied software technologies to China's aviation product development and manufacture chain, and have built an expertise centre and a sector for product lifecycle management (PLM) technology support and services.

The founding of the Sino-French Industry Joint Innovation Centre marks yet another milestone in the ongoing efforts by both companies to deepen their partnership in new ways. Both companies leverage Dassault Systemes' 3DEXPERIENCE platform to jointly build and promote integrated solutions for the complex lifecycle of aviation products that incorporate on-demand development, system architecture and design, engineering modelling and simulation, virtual testing, and digital manufacture.

"The Experience Economy ushers in a new industrial revolution in the Aerospace industry with the emergence of highly modular, connected, and smart production environments, as well as new business models based on fast interaction with users. This 3DEXPERIENCE Centre will be a leading incubator of a future manufacturing paradigm, innovative industrial solutions, and new skills for the engineers of tomorrow, leveraging Dassault Systemes' 3DEXPERIENCE innovation platform," said Bernard Charlès, Vice Chairman and CEO, Dassault Systemes. "Our objective is that it will advance the future industrial development plans of both countries, and successfully become a key component of their new industrial cooperation framework."

Mr. Zhang Xinguo, deputy general manager of AVIC, said: "The complexity of aviation systems is growing exponentially, and traditional document-based system engineering can no longer handle the challenges of such complex systems. System engineering model-based continuous development will be a key driver in the transformation of the development model used in China's aviation industry. I hope that the founding of this joint innovation centre can leverage Dassault Systemes' global leading solutions to explore a set of innovative methodologies and best practices that will fuel innovation and development within China's aviation industry."