Airbus shares rose more than 3% on Wednesday after a report that Chinese airlines are considering ordering hundreds of planes from the European firm.
Bloomberg reported that a deal could involve between 200 and 500 narrow-body and wide-body aircraft.
The order could be placed as soon as next month when European leaders visit Beijing, but the negotiations may take longer or fall apart.
Airbus declined to comment on Bloomberg’s report when contacted by Business Insider.
The report comes as tensions have risen between China and the US due to Donald Trump’s tariff plans.
They stand to have a sizable impact on aviation, which could hurt both sides but benefit the European planemaker.
In April, China returned some Boeing planes that were waiting to be officially delivered.
Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg told CNBC that three planes were being sent back to the US. On an earnings call that month, he said Boeing planned to remarket about 50 planes to other airlines instead.
While Boeing wouldn’t struggle to sell these planes to other customers due to the industry’s huge backlogs, it signalled a potential win for Airbus.
The European planemaker predicts China will be the world’s biggest market for aviation services by 2043, accounting for 20% of all aircraft deliveries.
China has been building its own manufacturer, Comac. It delivered 13 C919 jets last year, all to Chinese airlines and has a backlog of more than 1,000 orders.
Comac’s chances of disrupting the Airbus-Boeing duopoly have been hampered by tariffs.
According to analysts at Bank of America, the C919 has 48 major suppliers from the US, 26 from Europe, and just 14 from China.
“If China stops buying aircraft components from the US, the C919 program is halted or dead,” they wrote in an April report.
Last week, the Trump administration suspended sales to China of some technologies, including those related to jet engines.
While tariffs have dropped since their peak of 145%, there are still tensions, so it makes sense that China would prefer to order from the Europeans.
Last month, China’s Vice Premier He Lifeng visited France, where he met with the Airbus CEO. He said in a government press release that China wants to work with France to safeguard an open and cooperative international economic and trade environment.
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