BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said on Monday Beijing was willing to continue talks over the purchase of Airbus jets after French President Emmanuel Macron failed to clinch a deal earlier this year.
Industry sources said Macron returned home empty handed after a diplomatic gaffe and some of his own separate comments upset Chinese officials.
Macron sent his prime minister, Edouard Philippe, to Beijing this weekend partly in a bid to move the negotiations forward.
At a joint news conference, Li said China had long been a large customer for Airbus aircraft, and noted their joint manufacturing facility in the northern Chinese city of Tianjin.
"I explained to Mr Prime minister that in recent years we have bought quite a lot of passenger aircraft, and there needs to be a period to digest this. In spite of this, we are still willing to strengthen cooperation with France's Airbus," Li said, adding China planned to buy lots of planes in 2018.
"We are willing to continue discussing the issue of buying Airbus aircraft and in due course to sign agreements to buy Airbus aircraft," Li added.
Philippe said he was glad China had expressed its willingness to soon firm up its purchase commitment.
State-controlled China Eastern is seeking 150 single-aisle jets like the Airbus A320 or the competing Boeing 737, industry sources have said. They also say China's ICBC Financial Leasing has expressed interest in placing an Airbus order.
(Reporting by Ben Blanchard in Beijing and Richard Lough and Michel Rose in Paris; writing by Richard Lough; Editing by Luke Baker and Mark Potter)
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)