Aircraft manufacturer Airbus was set to win a US$7 billion Chinese order for about 100 A320 passenger jets yesterday, according to sources close to the negotiations, following a deal that could see Airbus building an assembly plant in China.
Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao (溫家寶), making a four-day visit to France, was scheduled to meet his French counterpart Dominique de Villepin yesterday and then announce the aircraft orders at a joint news conference, Airbus officials said.
Wen visited the main Airbus plant in Toulouse on Sunday where chief executive Gustav Humbert signed a memorandum of understanding promising "industrial cooperation with China. And tomorrow, there is the other part of this two-way street: to have more contracts, to have more aircraft flying in China."
Airbus said the memorandum was "about cooperation between the Chinese civil aviation industry" and itself, providing "a further upgrade of the cooperation between both parties."
It also expressed hopes of further collaboration down the road, including the "possibility" of building an assembly plant for mid-range Airbus planes in China.
Officials said the exact number of planes ordered would be announced at the news conference.
The order would be worth about US$7 billion, a source close to the sales negotiations said on Sunday night.
The order will allow Airbus to bounce back from an order of 70 Boeing B737 jets that the US group notched up during the visit to Beijing by US President George W. Bush last month.
Boeing currently holds around 60 percent of the fast-growing Chinese market, with Airbus behind with about one-third of the market, but aiming for at least half.
Airbus estimates total potential sales in China over the next 20 years at 1,600 planes.
Its A320 is a medium-range, single-aisle twin-engine jet capable of carrying up to about 180 passengers, and is still the European company's most popular aircraft after 17 years on the market.
The A320 is in direct competition with Boeing's 737 model.
Currently, Airbus has a research and development center in Beijing, and five Chinese companies produce parts for Airbus aircraft.
In Beijing, the official People's Daily has quoted Airbus officials as saying the company will shift all production of high-technology wings for the A320 to China from Britain within seven years.
Noel Forgeard, a co-president of the European Aeronautic Defense and Space Company (EADS) which controls 80 percent of Airbus, said recently that EADS did not rule out building a complete assembly line in China.
China, which is recognized as being highly successful in acquiring the technologies it lacks, has imposed clear rules: penetration of its market depends on investment that is likely to develop the Chinese aerospace industry.
However, the secretary-general of French aerospace and defense equipment body GEAD, Olivier Gorge, warned in an interview last week that it was necessary "that French technology in terms of aerospace equipment does not go to China through production sub-contracting."
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
REGIONAL STABILITY: Taipei thanked the Biden administration for authorizing its 16th sale of military goods and services to uphold Taiwan’s defense and safety The US Department of State has approved the sale of US$228 million of military goods and services to Taiwan, the US Department of Defense said on Monday. The state department “made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale” to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US for “return, repair and reshipment of spare parts and related equipment,” the defense department’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a news release. Taiwan had requested the purchase of items and services which include the “return, repair and reshipment of classified and unclassified spare parts for aircraft and related equipment; US Government
More than 500 people on Saturday marched in New York in support of Taiwan’s entry to the UN, significantly more people than previous years. The march, coinciding with the ongoing 79th session of the UN General Assembly, comes close on the heels of growing international discourse regarding the meaning of UN Resolution 2758. Resolution 2758, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1971, recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the “only lawful representative of China.” It resulted in the Republic of China (ROC) losing its seat at the UN to the PRC. Taiwan has since been excluded from
RSS