Airbus says to boost China assembly, but wins no new jet order

AIRBUS-FRANCE

PARIS, Jan 9 (Reuters) - European planemaker Airbus said it planned to boost the number of planes it assembles in China under a deal signed in Beijing on Tuesday to expand co-operation at its Tianjin assembly plant.

The provisional deal was signed during a state visit to China by French President Emmanuel Macron.

Airbus said the latest Tianjin agreement would result in production increasing to six aircraft per month - up from four at present - at the local final assembly line for the Airbus A320-family of jets.

The industrial ramp-up will target five aircraft by early 2019 and six per month by early 2020, it added in a statement.

A Beijing signing ceremony did not however include any deal for Airbus to sell aircraft to China, despite earlier expectations of a contract timed to coincide with Macron's visit.

Industry sources had said Airbus was negotiating to sell around 100 planes to China during the visit, but that details would only become clear during talks at the last minute.

(Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta; Editing by Tim Hepher)