China on Tuesday denied that any orders from Airbus had been cancelled.

The statement followed a report in a Chinese newspaper that Airbus did not expect to realize a target, set in 2005, of selling jets in China this year.

"The Civil Aviation Administration of China has never made any decision to cancel any aircraft orders with Airbus," Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang told a regular briefing.

The newspaper, based in Sichuan Province, mistranslated a Feb. 25 story from Bloomberg that said: "Airbus, which had been in talks with China about an order for as many as 200 planes, doesn't expect to sign any deals in China this year."

"I believe you have also noted that Airbus has also clarified that the report was merely hearsay," Qin said.

(Xinhua News Agency March 3, 2009)