Airbus SE stands to secure a major order for as many as 120 commercial aircraft from China, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said during a state visit to Asia’s largest economy. 

“We have just received news that the Chinese leadership will be ordering a large number of additional aircraft from Airbus,” Merz told reporters after a dinner with Chinese President Xi Jinping, putting the total number at as many as 120 units.

Merz didn’t identify the types of aircraft that China plans to order or when the purchase may happen. Airbus didn’t immediate respond to a request for comment.

China has routinely used high-profile political visits to firm up corporate deals, and Airbus as one of Europe’s largest exporters has long been a major beneficiary of the practice. The planemaker has a final assembly line in Tianjin, where it makes mainly A320 type aircraft that go mostly to local airlines. 

China typically orders aircraft from Airbus and Boeing in bulk and then distributes them among its state-owned carriers. The country is now the second-largest global aviation market behind the U.S., and China has sought to break into the Boeing-Airbus duopoly with its own Comac C919 model that’s similar in size to the Airbus A320 and Boeing 737 aircraft. 

Merz’s announcement comes a few weeks before U.S. President Donald Trump is scheduled to travel to China. Boeing has been a major beneficiary of Trump’s pro-business agenda, routinely winning large aircraft orders from countries where the US leader has traveled.

The prospect of another round of Chinese jet deals comes after Airbus won orders and commitments at the end of last year for about 150 aircraft from carriers including Air China Ltd. and jet leasing company China Aircraft Leasing Group Holdings Ltd.

China hasn’t ordered U.S.-made aircraft in several years, but could finally commit to a large Boeing order during Trump’s visit. That would buttress Beijing having ordered hundreds of aircraft from Airbus over recent years.