Airbus seeks China deal after diplomatic gaffe: sources

Airbus is in talks to rescue a plane sale to China thrown into doubt earlier this year shortly after a perceived gaffe by two European envoys over China’s sensitive historical relationship with Japan, people familiar with the matter said. The Airbus talks come as France’s PM embarks this week on a trip to Beijing and as the United States threatens new tariffs on Chinese goods. French officials cautioned there were no signs of an imminent airplane deal. State-controlled China Eastern is seeking 150 single-aisle jets like the Airbus A320 or the competing Boeing 737, industry sources said. China’s ICBC Financial Leasing has also expressed interest in placing an Airbus aircraft order, the sources said. The fate of a landmark Chinese order for 180 Airbus jets was left uncertain in January when French President Emmanuel Macron unexpectedly failed to clinch the order during a Beijing visit. China often marks such visits with industrial deals. A person familiar with the January negotiations said they had been complicated by the fallout from comments published by French and German envoys over the 1937 Nanking Massacre, in which China says Japanese troops killed 300,000 people.<br/>