Four Chinese airline companies have agreed to buy 42 Boeing 787 jets for a total $5.04 billion. Air China Ltd. and China Eastern Airlines Corp. will each buy 15 planes, Shanghai Airlines Co. will buy nine planes, and Xiamen Airline Co. will buy three planes.

The purchases come ahead of an expected visit by Chinese President Hu Jintao to the United States in September and are a coup for Chicago-based Boeing over European archrival Airbus SAS.

In January, six Chinese airlines signed an agreement with Boeing to order 60 of its new fuel-efficient 787 Dreamliners for $7.2 billion.

Boeing has said the 787s will be priced at between $125 million to $135 million each, though airlines usually negotiate discounts for large orders. The 787 Dreamliner, which is to go into service in 2008, competes with the A350 being developed by Airbus.