[TOULOUSE] Airbus Group SE won an order from China for as many as 75 A330 jets worth about US$18 billion at list prices.

The deal, for 45 of the wide-body planes plus an outline agreement on options for 30 more, will help Airbus maintain production levels as it transitions to a revamped A330 with new engines, avoiding deeper cuts than planned.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang announced the transaction at the French prime minister's office in Paris. A statement from Toulouse, France-based Airbus didn't provide a breakdown of which A330 variants are included in the order.

China has always been the biggest market for Airbus's popular twinjet. Its airlines had been expected to place fresh orders after Airbus said last year it would develop a new regional variant tweaked to better serve the Chinese market.

BLOOMBERG