Following a meeting between President Hu Jintao and visiting French President Jacques Chirac, China and France on Thursday signed a joint statement and 14 cooperation agreements, including a Chinese order of 150 Airbus A320 aircraft and 20 Airbus A350 planes.

It represents the largest deal in the history of the Chinese aviation industry. Hu and Chirac attended the signing ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in downtown Beijing.

"We are very pleased to see the healthy and fast growth of China's aviation industry. We are willing to provide more advanced Airbus planes for Chinese airlines," said Airbus President and CEO Louis Gallois.

Li Hai, general manager of the China Aviation Supplies Import and Export Group Corp, acclaimed the deal as "a new milestone in the history of bilateral cooperation."

The two sides also agreed to establish an Airbus A320 assembly line in the port city of Tianjin, which still needs the approval of the Chinese government and the Board of Directors of the European Aeronautic Defense and Space Co.

The assembly line will go into operation in early 2009 and will manufacture four Airbus A320s a month from 2011.

Gallois said that the joint venture will be a long-term strategic cooperation and will benefit both parties.

He said Airbus will work with China to ensure that the Airbus A320 planes produced in Tianjin will be up to the same standard as those manufactured in other places. "We are looking forward to the operation of the first A320 plane produced in China," he noted.

Since the first Airbus A310-200 plane entered the Chinese market in 1985, the number of Airbus planes operating on the Chinese mainland rose from less than 30 in 1995 to more than 300 by the end of September this year, according to official data.

Currently, more than 2,800 Airbus A320 planes are operating in more than 180 airlines around the world. There are orders around the globe for 4,400 A320s.