China Eastern Airlines’ Import Expo Contracts Reach $540 Million
Key Facts
China Eastern Airlines said it signed its first agreement during the signing ceremony for centrally administered state-owned companies on November 6, as part of its participation in the China International Import Expo. It announced that it would sign purchase agreements at the expo worth a total of $540 million. The purchases cover five areas: aircraft engines, aviation materials, jet fuel, in-flight meals and fresh salmon. The scope ranges from aircraft operating supplies to maintenance materials and related services. The company said participating suppliers come from 8 countries and regions.
The engine purchases are tied to the fleet renewal plan; Reuters reported that the company will buy 202 LEAP-1A engines to power 101 new aircraft from the Airbus A320neo family. The deal includes spare engines and long-term service support, according to the report. These components put the contracts in a context that goes beyond meeting daily flight needs to include support for aircraft operations and maintenance. The remaining purchases cover fuel, technical materials, meals and fresh salmon. The available announcement did not specify a separate value for each of these areas.
The purchases come at an expo that allows the company to contract with suppliers from multiple countries and regions across needs spanning five areas. The range of items gives the agreements a scope beyond buying aircraft or engines alone, extending to operating inputs and in-flight services. At the previous expo, China Eastern Air Holding signed purchase orders worth $1.21 billion during the 2025 expo. That figure provides a historical comparison with the total purchases announced for the current expo, without implying that the details of the agreements are identical across the two editions. The ninth expo is being held at the National Exhibition and Convention Center in Shanghai from November 5 to 10, 2026.
The contracts come as Chinese manufacturing indicators showed mixed signals in October. The official manufacturing index fell to 49.3, down 0.8 percentage points from the previous month, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. The production index was 49.8, while the new orders index stood at 49.4. By contrast, the RatingDog general manufacturing index was 52.0, compared with 52.1 in September, beating the Reuters poll forecast of 51.6. These readings provide a backdrop on industrial activity and orders as the company organizes its purchases through the expo.