TIANJIN, Sept. 14 (Xinhua) -- Airbus on Friday launched its 2018 Fly Your Ideas global competition for the China region, encouraging young Chinese innovators to come up with unique ideas and solutions for the future aerospace industry.

The launch ceremony was held in Civil Aviation University of China (CAUC) in north China's Tianjin, also the home of one of the final assembly lines of the A320 aircraft family.

"Airbus is seeking innovative ideas and digital solutions that could change aerospace in the decades to come and create a safer, cleaner and better-connected world," said George Xu, CEO of Airbus China.

"China is not only a big market for Airbus but also a great innovative power that Airbus must appreciate and embrace. We are confident about China's innovation power, especially the young generations," said Xu in front of more than 700 students and aviation professionals at CAUC, one of China's major education bases for aerospace professionals.

Fly Your Ideas is a global competition for universities students from all over the world to innovate for the future of aerospace industry.

Since its launch in 2008, more than 20,000 students from around 650 universities in over 100 countries have participated in the event.

The focus of the upcoming 2018-2019 edition is digitalization. Global participants will propose their ideas and solution to meet the challenges in electrification, data services, cyber security, the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence (AI), and augmented reality.

Six finalist teams worldwide will compete to share a prize fund of 45,000 euros and the chance to take their idea forward within the industry.

Chinese students have actively participated in this competition with outstanding performances.

In 2011, "Wing of Phoenix" from Nanjing Aeronautics and Astronautics University won the top prize, and "DAELead" from the University of Hong Kong won the global champion in 2017 with their innovative idea of "Private Stowage Compartment."