Beijing - Hit by the global financial crisis, China's government has asked its aviation industry to suspend buying new planes or delay the delivery of already ordered planes, aviation authorities said Wednesday.

The Chinese Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) "encouraged" airlines to cancel or defer taking delivery of new planes next year.

Leasing contracts with foreign companies will not be renewed either, owing to the crisis and falling passenger numbers, the CAAC said.

Chinese airlines were also encouraged to ground or sell planes or convert passenger carriers into cargo planes. To ease the changes affecting the airline industry, taxes and fees are to be reduced, the office said.

These orders are set to affect both European planemaker Airbus and its US competitor Boeing. While previously agreed deliveries are hard to cancel, the prospects for the world's second-largest aviation market after the US are dimming.

Airbus plans to roll out 440 planes to Chinese customers in the next few years, about 10 per cent of its global sales.

In September Airbus opened first plant outside Europe in the Chinese port city Tianjin in a bid to win over the Chinese market.

Experts estimate that about 70 per cent of China's airlines suffered losses during the first 10 months of the year. (dpa)