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Telecomunicaciones y tecnología

China extends Airbus jet assembly venture, unblocks A330 deals


    PARIS (Reuters) - China signed a new 10-year agreement on Wednesday allowing Airbus to extend the assembly of A320 planes in Tianjin to 2025 and ordered an unspecified number of new jets, easing trade ties after a bitter row with Europe on aircraft emissions.

    Watched by visiting President Xi Jinping and his French counterpart Francois Hollande, Chinese officials in Paris also signed deals to co-produce 1,000 French EC-175 helicopters over 20 years with Airbus Group's helicopter unit and to co-operate on turbo-prop engines with France's Safran .

    Details of the jet purchases were not immediately announced, but diplomats said they included Beijing's agreement to unblock purchases of 27 Airbus A330 aircraft worth over $6 billion, which had been suspended during the recent trade dispute.

    The spat was triggered by China's opposition to an EU scheme forcing airlines to join an emissions scheme it feared could harm its carriers.

    (Reporting by Elizabeth Pineau, Cyril Altmeyer; Editing by Andrew Callus)