(Adds background on other COMAC suppliers and detail on other

export restrictions on China)

By Karen Freifeld

July 3 (Reuters) - The U.S. told GE Aerospace on

Thursday that it can restart jet engine shipments to China's

COMAC, according to a person familiar with the matter, in a

further sign of de-escalating U.S.-Sino trade tensions that

included concessions from Beijing over rare earths.

The United States this week also lifted restrictions on

exports to China for chip design software developers and ethane

producers, suggesting trade talks between the two countries are

moving forward.

License suspensions and new license requirements on the

different exports had been issued several weeks ago as part of

the ongoing trade war between the world's two biggest economies.

GE did not respond to an email request for comment, nor did

the Commerce Department, which notified GE it could restart

shipments.

Licenses for GE Aerospace affect engines sold to China's

state-owned aerospace manufacturer COMAC, which wants to compete

internationally against dominant plane makers Airbus

and Boeing ( BA ).

A spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Washington did not

immediately respond to a request for comment.

The restrictions were among the many countermeasures imposed

by U.S. President Donald Trump's administration in response to

China's export restrictions on rare earths and related magnets

in April.

Beijing's move on rare earths, part of retaliation against

Trump's earlier tariffs this year, has upended supply chains

central to automakers, aerospace manufacturers, semiconductor

companies and military contractors. The issue threatened to

scupper a bilateral trade deal.

The license suspensions lifted for GE affect LEAP-1C engines

to COMAC for its C919 single-aisle aircraft, and GE's CF34

engine for COMAC's C909 regional jet, according to the person

familiar, who declined to be identified because they were not

authorized to speak publicly.

The LEAP 1-C engines are the product of a joint venture

between GE Aerospace and France's Safran.

The C919 is made in China but many of its components come

from overseas.

At least one other aerospace company also had its license

suspensions for China lifted on Thursday, according to another

person, who declined to identify the company.

Honeywell Aerospace has supplied COMAC's C919, too,

providing an auxiliary power system, wheels and brakes, flight

control package, and navigation package. Honeywell ( HON ) did not

return a request for comment.

Collins Aerospace, a subsidiary of RTX, which also

supplies components for COMAC, declined to comment on the status

of its licenses.

In recent weeks, the U.S. also suspended licenses for

nuclear equipment suppliers to sell to China's power plants.

U.S. nuclear equipment suppliers include Westinghouse and

Emerson.