China inks US$9.7b pact for Airbus aircraft
Print Edition
CHINA inked a giant aircraft contract with European manufacturer Airbus yesterday, as German Chancellor Angela Merkel began a visit with European leaders increasingly competing for market share in the world’s second-largest economy.
Airbus and state-owned China Aviation Supplies Holding Group signed a deal for 100 A320 aircraft, worth US$9.7 billion at list prices.
They also confirmed 30 options for twin-aisle A330, which were among a 75-plane deal announced in June ahead of a visit by Li Keqiang to Airbus headquarters in Toulouse in France.
Airbus, which has headquarters in France and Germany and employs 15,000 people at its German factory, is engaged in a fierce struggle with US-based Boeing for dominance in the crucial Chinese market.
During President Xi Jinping’s visit to the US last month, Seattle-based Boeing announced a record purchase of 300 aircraft worth around US$38 billion.
China is expected to add 6,330 new aircraft worth US$950 billion to its commercial fleet by 2034, Boeing said in August in its annual China Current Market Outlook.
The German leader said she was “very happy” to know that Xi had paid such a fruitful visit to Britain, stating: “We welcome competition that is conducive to the promotion of business.”
“In Germany, we don’t have a Queen,” she added, to laughter.
She later met Xi.
Today, Merkel will go with Li to his home province of Anhui, where she will visit a village and a school.
“This is the first time since I’ve become premier that I’ve accompanied a foreign leader outside Beijing,” Li said. It “clearly indicates” the good relations between the two leaders and their countries, he added.
Other deals signed in the leaders’ presence included cooperation between telecom networks company Nokia and China Mobile, as well as the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and embattled car giant Volkswagen, which has previously been heavily fined for violating Chinese anti-trust laws.
The automaker, which has come under fire for faking fuel efficiency results, signed a cooperation deal for ICBC to provide it “comprehensive” banking services and support “in China and within a global scope,” according to a statement published on the website of the automaker’s China venture.
Chinese growth is slowing, with expansion falling to its lowest level since the global financial crisis in the third quarter, but Merkel reiterated she continues to “have confidence in the Chinese economy,” adding that economic development undergoes “waves and changes.”
Li said: “China’s industry development level lags behind that of Germany. We need to learn advanced concepts and technology from Germany.”
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