11.   Signatories included a Chinese aviation equipment import-export co., China Northwest Airlines, Zhejiang Airlines and the U.S.-French joint venture CFM International Co.

12.   The crash was the second in eastern China in less than two months, and further blotted the troubled safety records of Korean Air and Chinese civil aviation authorities.

13.   The highest-ranking Chinese civil aviation official to visit Taiwan urged Taipei Tuesday to lift its ban on air and shipping links with China.

14.   Airbus had tried to woo Chinese aviation authorities away from Boeing.

15.   But negotiations and technical details in direct air links had yet to be made with Chinese aviation authorities, the official said.

16.   Chinese aviation and military officials believe US intelligence agencies planted the bugs while the plane was being refitted in the United States, the Washington Post said.

17.   That deal was widely seen as a snub to Boeing Co. of the United States, which dominates the Chinese aviation market.

18.   The Boeing offer was to be handed over to Chinese aviation authorities in the next several days, the Hong Kong Standard said.

19.   The deal was seen as a major blow to the major foreign player in the Chinese aviation market, Boeing Co. of the United States.

20.   The fast-growing Chinese aviation market has been dominated to date by US group Boeing.