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BEIJING, April 6 (Reuters) - Airbus Chief Executive Guillaume Faury signed agreements on Thursday to open a new assembly line in China, doubling its capacity in the world's second-largest aviation market, while formalising earlier orders for passenger jets.
The two agreements were signed in front of reporters during a state visit by French President Emmanuel Macron to Beijing.
The number of aircraft involved in the "general terms agreement" formalising previous orders was not immediately disclosed.
Airbus last year reported the sale of 292 aircraft to China, where plane contracts must typically be endorsed by the government before aircraft can be delivered.
However, the lack of new business falls short of some expectations before the trip, which an official in Macron's office had said would not merely consist of repackaging earlier announcements.
Industry sources said Airbus was continuing to negotiate new plane orders on the sidelines of Macron's trip, but no immediate announcement was expected.
China accounts for up to a quarter of Airbus and Boeing deliveries in a normal year. China used to split jet purchase deals between Airbus and Boeing but deals with the U.S. planemaker have slowed amid rising tensions between Beijing and Washington. (Reporting by Michel Rose, Sophie Yu, Tim Hepher; writing GV De Clercq; Editing by Tomasz Janowski)
