From AP, via Chicago Tribune:
China placed its biggest order ever for Airbus planes Monday, as the aircraftmaker’s parent company, European Aeronautic Defense and Space Co., said efforts to build a strategic partnership with China were beginning to pay off.
With visiting Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao and his French counterpart, Dominique de Villepin, looking on, senior Chinese aviation official Li Hai signed an agreement to purchase 150 Airbus jets worth more than $9 billion at catalog prices.
The Chinese purchase of the Airbus A319s, A320s and A321s–all members of the single-aisle A320 family–is “the largest single order that Airbus has ever received since it entered the Chinese market two decades ago,” the company said.
