China to place Airbus order
30 November 2005
The government will place an order for Airbus A320 jetliners during Wen Jiabao's visit to France this weekend, the Wall Street Journal reported. The order would come just two weeks after China agreed to buy 70 Boeing 737s for around US$4 billion, alongside an oral commitment to buy an additional 80 of the company's narrow-body 737s. Given the political tension between Europe-based Airbus and US-based Boeing, this second order could be seen as Beijing taking "a balancing action, a Chinese airline executive said.
