By Sophie Yu and David Kirton

ZHUHAI, China (Reuters) - European planemaker Airbus defended free trade on Tuesday as the aerospace industry faces a growing cluster of economic tensions.

The CEO of the planemaker's China operations said Airbus was "very much pro free trade" and its presence there was a showcase of good cooperation between Beijing and Europe.

Trade ties between the European Union and China have been marred by a dispute over electric vehicles, while Airbus also faces a potential new transatlantic rift after Donald Trump won U.S. elections with a pledge to impose widespread tariffs.

Asked whether Airbus was worried about the possibility of tariffs arising from intensifying trade tensions between China and Europe, Airbus China CEO George Xu said the European group saw free trade as vital for global prosperity. "We’re looking forward to seeing if there is some progress in these discussions," he said, referring to ongoing talks between Beijing and Brussels over a European Union move to slap tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles. "We are not afraid of competition and we want to focus our resources to develop the China market and develop partnerships with Chinese partners."

Airbus has overtaken Boeing as a supplier to Chinese airlines during a trade rift between Washington and Beijing that began during Donald Trump's first term.

The two plane giants were embroiled in an 18-month trade war over aircraft subsidies between the EU and the U.S. involving mutual tariffs that spilled over to other sectors such as food and luxury goods before a five-year truce was declared in 2021.

TIANJIN DELAY

Speaking to reporters at China's largest air show in Zhuhai, Xu said Airbus was deepening its industrial chain in China, noting it was important to Airbus' global footprint.

Components produced by Chinese companies are on all Airbus commercial jets in production.

The company hopes to see its Chinese industrial chain supply global customers in addition to local ones, Xu said.

Airbus first established an official presence in China in 1994 and its first assembly line outside its four founding European countries was opened in Tianjin in 2008.

It now assembles the A320neo single-aisle family of passenger aircraft in the northern port city.

A quarter of deliveries from Tianjin in 2024 were to non-Chinese airlines including Easyjet and Wizzair, Xu said.

However, he signalled a delay of potentially several months in opening a second Airbus assembly line in Tianjin, saying it would start operations at the beginning of 2026.

Airbus agreed to build the new line during a state visit to China by French President Emmanuel Macron in April 2023, in a move to strengthen access to the world's second-largest aviation market.

Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury told reporters at the time that the extra line would open in the second half of 2025.

Xu said Chinese certification of its A330neo jet was going smoothly and the first delivery of the widebody model in the country could come in 2025.

He also expected an A330 passenger-to-freighter conversion programme to see rapid development in China.

(Reporting by Sophie Yu and David Kirton; Writing by Lisa Barrington, Brenda Goh and Tim Hepher; Editing by Christian Schmollinger, Jamie Freed and Muralikumar Anantharaman)