European planemaker Airbus is in talks with China about a new round of orders, negotiations that coincide with a visit by French President Emmanuel Macron to Beijing later this week.

The potential deal for dozens of jets comes amid growing trade tensions between the U.S. and China, which have seen Beijing increasingly turn to Airbus for planes in recent years.

While the talks are still in process, an official in Macron's office said negotiations were "under way," stressing that any deals with French firms would be new and not just a repackaging of earlier announcements.

Macron is set to arrive in China for a state visit between April 5-7, and will be joined by a delegation of company chiefs from France-based companies, which is expected to include Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury.

Share prices in the planemaker have grown amid the reports, rising almost 2 percent.

READ MORE

French minister under fire for Playboy cover shoot

Paris votes to ban rental e-scooters

Anger over French pension reform shows no sign of easing

Diplomats say high-level visits by European or the U.S. leaders often lead to aircraft purchase deals. In July 2022, China's "Big Three" state airlines agreed to buy 292 Airbus jets, the biggest purchase by Chinese carriers since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Airbus is planning a 50 percent increase in output of the jets by 2026, with talks potentially including a deal to grow its industrial presence in China, where since 2008 it has had an assembly line for single-aisle jets. 

In 2018, Airbus agreed to raise assembly capacity in the port city of Tianjin to six A320neo-family jets a month from four, but reportedly wants to increase this to eight a month.

State-owned China and Eastern and China Southern last week said they would resume taking delivery of Airbus rival Boeing's 737 MAX this year.

But besides demand for the freighters, new orders for U.S. airplanes by China remain slow, with Airbus looking to take advantage of worsening ties between Beijing and Washington.

Subscribe to Storyboard: A weekly newsletter bringing you the best of CGTN every Friday