The carrier said the purchase would see six Airbus A330 aircraft delivered between 2013 and 2014 and the remaining 30 A320 planes delivered from 2012 to 2015.

"The acquisition will be funded partly by internal resources of the company and partly through commercial loans by commercial banks," China Southern said in a statement filed to the Hong Kong stock exchange.

The announcement came as Chinese President Hu Jintao was scheduled to arrive in Paris Thursday for a three-day state visit during which France hopes to clinch billions of dollars in deals for nuclear, aviation and energy technology. Airbus is based in Toulouse, France.

The announcement also came a day after Singapore-based aircraft leasing firm BOC Aviation said it had ordered 30 Airbus A320 medium-range airliners from Airbus for delivery between 2012 and 2014.

BOC Aviation did not reveal the price tag of its purchase, but it could be worth as much as 2.4 billion US dollars based on the average price of each aircraft.

Airbus rival Boeing this week said it expects China's civil aircraft fleet to triple over the next 20 years, the world's second largest after the United States.

"China is one of the world's fastest growing and dynamic aviation markets, driven by the urbanisation of China, the growth of its economy and an ever increasing personal wealth," Randy Tinseth, vice president of marketing for the US aerospace giant, told a briefing in Beijing on Tuesday.

Chinese airlines will need 4,330 new jets valued at 480 billion dollars over the next two decades, compared with global demand of 30,900 units during the period, he said.

Last week, the head of China's civil aviation administration offered an even more bullish forecast, saying the country would have up to 5,000 aircraft to transport passengers and cargo by 2015, according to state media.

In September, Hong Kong-based carrier Cathay Pacific said it had confirmed an order for 30 long-range A350 Airbus aircraft with a book price of 7.82 billion dollars -- the biggest single order in the carrier's history.

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