European aircraft manufacturer Airbus signed an agreement on Thursday with its Chinese partners to build a second production line at its site in north China's Tianjin Municipality, ramping up the final assembly capability of its A320 family aircraft.

The deal was inked between Airbus and Tianjin Free Trade Zone Investment Company Ltd. and Aviation Industry Corporation of China, Ltd.

The new assembly line will contribute to Airbus's goal of producing 75 A320 jets per month by 2026 throughout its global production network, Airbus said.

There are four final assembly facilities for the A320 family worldwide, located respectively in Toulouse in France, Hamburg in Germany, Mobile in the U.S., and Tianjin in China.

Its Asia final assembly line in Tianjin, known as FAL Tianjin, was put into operation in 2008 and so far more than 600 A320 family aircraft have been assembled there. In March 2023, the assembly line's first A321neo aircraft was delivered, showing the line's capability to deliver all aircraft models in Airbus' A320 family.

Also on Thursday, the manufacturer signed an agreement with China Aviation Supplies Holding Company and landed orders of 160 Airbus commercial aircraft, including 150 A320 family aircraft and 10 A350-900 wide-body aircraft.

It also signed a memorandum of understanding with China National Aviation Fuel Group Ltd. to strengthen cooperation between China and the European Union in the production, application and standard setting of sustainable aviation fuel.

Airbus forecast that air traffic in China will grow at an average rate of 5.3 percent annually over the next 20 years, higher than the world average of 3.6 percent. By 2041, China's demand for passenger and cargo aircraft is expected to reach 8,420, accounting for over 20 percent of the global total of about 39,500 aircraft.

By the end of March 2023, the number of the Airbus fleet in service on the Chinese mainland reached more than 2,100.

(With input from Xinhua)