China signs deal to buy 50 Airbus aircraft for $3.5bn
Following on from our earlier blog post, China has today signed a deal to buy 50 planes worth $3.5bn from Airbus.
The order from state-owned China’s ICBC Financial Leasing includes 20 A320neo aircraft, making it the first Chinese customer for the new Airbus model.
The agreement is one of a number of trade deals signed by German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the start of her two-day visit to China.
She is meeting with China’s President Hu Jintao today in Beijing before heading to Tianjin to visit an Airbus assembly line. You can find out more about Airbus in China here.
As we blogged recently, aircraft manufacturers including Boeing, Airbus and Comac are targetting China and the Asia Pacific region for future sales – with aircraft like the C919, A320neo and B737 Max launching in the next few years.
