Boeing signed $7.2 billion China deal

&to=http:// english.pravda.ru/main/18/89/355/14604_boeing.html ' target=_blank>Boeing has signed a deal worth up to $7.2bn (£3.8bn) to supply 60 of its new Dreamliner jets to Chinese carriers.

The order is the largest to date for the mid-sized plane, which the US firm also announced would be changing its model number from 7E7 to 787.

Boeing has been vying for orders from China, the world's fastest-growing airplane market, with Europe's Airbus, says BBC News.

Air China, China Eastern Airlines, China Southern Airlines, Hainan Airlines, Shanghai Airlines and Xiamen Airlines will each receive at least one jet in time for the opening of the 2008 &to=http:// english.pravda.ru/main/2002/02/14/26404.html ' target=_blank>Olympics in August 2008.

All six airlines will get the long-range, 223-seater model, the 787-8. Boeing did not disclose how the 60 jets would be divided among the carriers.