China to sign Airbus deal during Blair visit
(Reuters)
Updated: 2005-09-05 06:56

More than 40 other UK business leaders are also accompanying Blair, from companies including British Telecom, British American Tobacco, Barclays Capital and GlaxoSmithkline, Blair's spokesman said.

The EU is China's No. 1 trading partner and China is the bloc's second largest after the United States, while UK exports to China are growing at the fastest rate among EU countries.

In India, the cabinet last month set up a panel to hold final talks with Airbus for the purchase of 43 aircraft.

Finance minister Palaniappan Chidambaram said then the negotiations on the $2 billion (1.1 billion pound) deal to acquire aircraft for state-run domestic carrier Indian Airlines could be wrapped up in September.

Indian airlines have been modernising their fleets and expanding as their government has deregulated a sector once straitjacketed by red tape. India's government said in May it expected airline industry growth to surge 20 percent a year.

In June, India's largest domestic airline Jet Airways said it would buy 10 Airbus aircraft with options to buy 10 more in a deal worth about $1.5 billion.

In addition, Jet's domestic rival Kingfisher Airlines said it planned to spend about $2.5 billion for "multiple wide-bodied aircraft" from Airbus, including its mammoth 555-seat A380 model, the world's biggest airliner.

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