European plane maker Airbus has won a Chinese order for 20 of its A330 widebody jets, Airbus parent EADS said this morning.
Airbus Chief Executive Mr Noel Forgeard had said yesterday the order was destined for Shanghai-based China Eastern Airlines and was valued at over $2 billion based on catalogue prices.
In a statement, EADS said its Eurocopter unit had also struck a deal to assemble its EC 120 helicopters in China. The deals came during a visit to France by Chinese Vice Premier Mr Zeng Peiyan.
The plane order is the second large Chinese order for Airbus in the last two months.
In April, the country's largest carrier China Southern Airlines signed a deal for 21 narrowbody A320 and A319 jets.
The latest deal comes only days after US low-cost carrier JetBlue Airways Corp announced it would exercise options to purchase 30 new Airbus jets.
The Chinese and JetBlue orders will provide a major boost to Airbus's 2004 order book, which the jetmaker announced on Thursday stood at 73 jets at the end of May.
Airbus said it expected to receive orders for a total of around 250 jets this year.