Airbus Chief Executive Guillaume Faury signed agreements on Thursday to open the assembly line and formalize 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” formalizing previous orders was not immediately disclosed.

Airbus last year reported the sale of 292 aircraft to China.

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 US planemaker have slowed amid rising tensions between Beijing and Washington.

Economic growth

The rebound of China’s economy will be further consolidated and tax revenues in the second quarter will likely grow faster, but the economy still faces many uncertainties at home and abroad, the taxation administration said on Thursday. The country’s economy grew 3 percent last year, the weakest in nearly half a century. Beijing has set a modest target for economic growth of around 5 percent for this year.

Business entities are likely to get cuts in fees and taxes totaling more than 1.8 trillion yuan ($261.62 billion) this year, Wang Daoshu, an official at the state taxation administration office, said at a news conference.

To spur growth in 2022, China cut fees and gave credit rebates on tax to private businesses that were hit hard by stringent COVID-19 lockdowns and curbs. In 2022, the tax and fee cuts, tax refunds and deferred payments totaled 4.2 trillion yuan, according to the Finance Ministry. That included 2.4 trillion yuan in value-added tax rebates, the largest in recent years.

Yuan eases

China’s yuan eased against a rising dollar on Thursday, while investors were anxiously awaiting US non-farm payrolls for more clues on the US monetary tightening trajectory.

Currency traders said the yuan has been swinging in a thin range between 6.85 to 6.9 per dollar since mid-March as market participants were cautiously looking for the next catalyst. And the US jobs data due on Friday could affect the Federal Reserve policy outlook and bring volatility to the dollar and other major currencies, they added. Prior to market opening, the People’s Bank of China set the midpoint rate at 6.8747 per dollar, 48 pips weaker than the previous fix of 6.8699.

Services activity

China’s services activity in March revved up at the quickest pace in 2-1/2 years on robust new orders and job creation and a consumption-led post-COVID recovery, a private-sector survey showed on Thursday.