HONG KONG (Reuters) - China Southern Airlines Co Ltd <1055.HK> <600029.SS> , the country's largest carrier by fleet size, has agreed to buy 10 Airbus A330-300 aircraft for about $1.9 billion, to be delivered in stages from 2014 to 2016.

The deal is the second involving Europe's Airbus and a Chinese airliner since the European Union agreed on November 12 to "stop the clock" on plans to force non-EU airlines to adopt its Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS).

China Eastern Airlines <600115.SS> <0670.HK>, one of the country's top three carriers, said in late November it had agreed to buy 60 Airbus A320 aircraft for about $5.4 billion.

Chinese airlines have been buying aircraft from Airbus and rival Boeing over the past few years as more Chinese travel.

China Southern said in a statement that the new aircraft would be funded through internal resources and loans from commercial banks and that the catalogue price of one Airbus A330-300 aircraft was $188 million, though airlines usually pay a lower price tag after negotiations.

Shares of China Southern closed up 2.3 percent in Hong Kong, in line with a 2.2 percent gain for the benchmark Hang Seng Index <.HSI>.

For a copy of the statement, please click http://www.hkexnews.hk/listedco/listconews/sehk/2012/1205/LTN20121205653.pdf

(Reporting by Lee Chyen Yee; Editing by Anne Marie Roantree and Michael Urquhart)