Boeing Co. has signed deals to sell 300 jets to China and establish a plant to finish work on single-aisle planes destined for the country, Chinese state media said on Wednesday.

Further details are expected later Wednesday when Chinese President Xi Jinping visits one of Boeing's main factories near Seattle.

The official Xinhua News Agency said the orders came from China Aviation Supplies Holding Co. and the aircraft leasing arms of Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd. and China Development Bank.

Xinhua didn't disclose the types of planes involved or whether they represented new orders, or finalized deals already booked by Boeing.

The plane maker has a backlog of 157 jets for Chinese airlines and leasing companies as of Aug. 31, but analysts said hundreds more planes listed as "unidentified" in Boeing's order book were destined for China.

Boeing and rival Airbus Group SE often wait until events such as state visits or air shows to disclose the identity of customers.

Air traffic in China has tripled over the past decade and is forecast to double over the next 10 years, driving demand for thousands of new jets, according to analysts.

Boeing and Airbus have a roughly 50/50 split of the Chinese market, and are deepening their ties with the country's fast-growing aerospace industry.

Xinhua said Commercial Aircraft Corp. of China, or Comac would partner Boeing in building an aircraft completion center in China for its 737 jets. Airbus is establishing a similar facility to finish work on its A330 twin-aisle jets.

China is now investing heavily to develop its own passenger jet industry, and though the state-backed Comac C919 plane includes engines from a joint venture between GE and France's Safran SA and parts from other Western suppliers, it is years behind schedule.

Boeing on Tuesday moved to assuage employee concerns over its proposed plant, where workers will paint the fuselage and install seats and inflight entertainment systems on its best-selling 737.

The new plant would be Boeing's first big manufacturing facility overseas, and would mark a milestone for its presence in China, which is fast becoming its most important market.

The facility is expected to handle only final steps in completing work on 737 jets ordered by Chinese customers, according to a person familiar with discussions on the venture.

China accounted for roughly a quarter of Boeing's single-aisle jet deliveries this year and is expected to claim a large share of future orders, but the company has lost ground in recent years to Airbus, which delivered the first of its rival A320 jets from an assembly plant in Tianjin in 2009 and now claims around half of the Chinese market.

The prospect of Boeing moving some work to China such as painting jets and completing their flight tests has riled Boeing's unions.

Ray Conner, chief executive of its commercial airplanes unit, alluded to the facility Tuesday in an internal memo viewed by The Wall Street Journal.

"We are in important discussions with Chinese partners about our strategic partnership in China and also possible sales agreements," Mr. Conner said. "I want to assure you that agreements we may reach with our Chinese partners will not result in layoffs or reduce employment for the 737 program in Washington state."

Doug Cameron contributed to this article.

Write to Carlos Tejada at carlos.tejada@wsj.com and Jon Ostrower at jon.ostrower@wsj.com

Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 23, 2015 10:15 ET (14:15 GMT)

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