ZHUHAI, China, Nov 13 (Reuters) - Brazilian planemaker

Embraer ( ERJ ) said on Wednesday at China's largest air show

in Zhuhai that it planned to focus on strengthening its supply

chain, with Chinese companies able to play a role.

Embraer ( ERJ ) is the world's third-largest planemaker and focuses

on up to 150-seat single-aisle regional and executive aircraft,

sitting just below Airbus' and Boeing's ( BA )

best-selling A320 and 737 families and rivalling the Airbus

A220.

At Zhuhai, Embraer's ( ERJ ) chief commercial officer, Martyn

Holmes, noted that China's President Xi Jinping would soon visit

Brazil. The G20 summit will be held there this month.

"I think it's an exciting moment for us to be having that

(supply chain) conversation with Chinese suppliers and looking

how we evolve," Holmes said.

China is Brazil's top trade partner. Brazilian President

Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said earlier this year that he wanted

to discuss a "long-term strategic partnership" with China.

Industry sources have said Embraer ( ERJ ) is looking for a

strategic partner for a possible new passenger jet project to

compete more directly with Airbus and Boeing ( BA ).

Since the COVID-19 pandemic Embraer ( ERJ ) has pushed to expand in

Asia with its latest range of more efficient E2 jets, saying

post-pandemic travel trends in the region created more demand

for more frequent secondary and tertiary airport connections.

Singapore Airlines' low-cost offshoot Scoot is

the first operator of the E2 jet in the Asia-Pacific region.

Asia, led by China, has been slower to return to

pre-pandemic air traffic levels than other regions.

Embraer ( ERJ ) had said that China's domestic market has enormous

potential.

Embraer ( ERJ ) had struggled to find new business in China since

the 2016 closure of a joint venture to manufacture executive

jets in the city of Harbin.

However, its E190-E2 and E195-E2 models received Chinese

certification in 2022 and 2023, and in June, Embraer ( ERJ ) inked a

deal with a Chinese company to convert its E-jets to freighters.

(Writing by Lisa Barrington and Gerry Doyle; Editing by

Christian Schmollinger)