Chirac kicks off China visit
China, France urge EU to lift arms ban
Airbus 
has scored a Chinese order of 150 A320 aircraft and finalized an agreement to 
set up a plant in China as part of a deal bonanza unleashed by French President 
Jacques Chirac's visit to Beijing.
The Airbus A320 assembly plant, to be located in the north Chinese port city 
of Tianjin not far from Beijing, will complete its first aircraft in 2009 and 
will subsequently manufacture four a month, the aircraft maker said. 
 
 
   France's President Jacques Chirac 
 shakes hands with China's President Hu Jintao (R) during a signing 
 ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing October 26, 2006. 
 [Reuters] [More photos on Chirac 
visit] | 
"It's a means for us to develop a 
long-term vision with the Chinese," said Louis Gallois, the chief executive of 
the European aerospace giant. 
"It's clear that building the planes in China will give the Chinese an 
incentive to buy more of our aircraft," he said. 
The order of 150 A320s, one of 14 deals signed between France and China in 
Beijing, would likely be a multi-billion-dollar deal for the European aerospace 
giant. 
The deal also included an option for China to buy an additional 20 of the 
European aircraft maker's new wide-body A350 planes. 
It follows China's order last year of 150 Airbus planes with a list price of 
nearly US$10 billion, which was signed when Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao visited 
France. 
Airbus will hold a 51 percent stake in the planned facility in Tianjin, 
according to sources close to the negotiations between Airbus and China. 
In June, China's National Development and Reform Commission, the national 
planning agency, approved the plans for Tianjin, calling the move an important 
step for the nation's aviation industry. 
The A320, a medium-range, single-aisle twin-engine jet capable of carrying up 
to about 180 passengers, remains the European company's most popular aircraft 
after 17 years on the market. It is in direct competition with Boeing's 737 
model. 
Airbus is seeking to undercut US rival Boeing's dominance of the lucrative 
Chinese civil aviation sector and says it is aiming for a 50 percent market 
share. 
Airbus has previously published estimates that potential sales among all 
airlines in China over the next 20 years total some 1,600 planes. 
Airbus is 80 percent-owned by the European Aeronautic Defence and Space 
Company (EADS) and 20 percent-owned by BAE Systems of Britain. 
In another deal signed Thursday, Alstom SA of France inked a contract worth 
1.2 billion euros (US$1.5 billion) for the delivery of 500 freight locomotives 
to China, according to the agreement. 
Alstom will link up with China's Datong Electric Locomotive to deliver the 
trains, with Alstom's share of the contract coming to 300 million euros (US$380 
million), the agreement said. 
Alstom will be in charge of designing the locomotives, described by Alstom 
Chief Executive Patrick Kron as "the most powerful in the world." 
The first 110 of the locomotives will be produced at Alstom's plant in 
Belfort, France, before production moves to facilities in north China operated 
by Datong Electronic Locomotives.