- This announcement follows US President Donald Trump’s visit to Beijing.
- Boeing considers this agreement a major step for the American aviation industry.
- The company says the deal marks the reopening of the Chinese market for aircraft orders.
Aerospace giant Boeing confirmed on Friday that China had committed to purchasing 200 planes, as announced by US President Donald Trump during his visit to Beijing.
“We had a very successful trip to China and achieved our primary goal of reopening the Chinese market to orders for Boeing aircraft,” the company, whose CEO Kelly Ortberg was part of the U.S. delegation to China, said in a statement.
“This included an initial commitment for 200 aircraft, and we anticipate additional commitments will follow after this first tranche,” Boeing said, thanking the Trump administration “for making this milestone happen.”
“We now look forward to continuing to meet China’s demand for aircraft,” he said.
The last Chinese order from Boeing was in 2017, when Trump visited Beijing at the start of his first term in the White House. At that time, it had ordered 300 single-aisle and wide-body aircraft, a mega-contract valued at $37 billion.
On Thursday, Trump discussed Boeing’s new commitment, saying in an interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity: “I think it was a commitment.”
“That represents a lot of jobs,” added the president.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One as he returned from China, Trump said the deal included “a promise of 750 planes, which will be by far the biggest order ever, if they do a good job with the 200.”
American media have been reporting for several months that Beijing was preparing to place a large order with Boeing which would include 500 single-aisle 737 MAXs and around 100 larger 787 Dreamliners and 777s.
“He (Xi) is committed to delivering 200 Boeings, big ones, 777s and 737s, and lots of big, big, big, beautiful Boeing planes,” Trump said in the Fox News interview broadcast Friday night.
For China, such a large order would ensure the ability to continue developing its aviation market, as production of its local COMAC C919 narrow-body aircraft falls short of ambitious targets.
It would also help Boeing narrow the gap with rival Airbus, which has gained a head start in China in recent years.
An estimate from aviation intelligence and consulting firm IBA puts the value of the 200-plane order at $17 billion to $19 billion, assuming 80 percent of the mix is MAX planes.
“This figure could, however, reach $25 billion if a larger proportion (around 40%) of the total order is announced for wide-body aircraft,” said Samuel Kenekueyero of IBA.
The deal would be a well-deserved victory for Trump, whose tariffs and other aggressive trade policies have so far failed to reduce the large U.S. trade deficit.
An order of more than 500 planes, if it goes through, would be the largest in aviation history, surpassing IndiGo’s deal for 500 narrow-body planes from Airbus, although China’s purchase would likely be split among its three main state-owned carriers.
Order size lower than expected
Shares of the U.S. aircraft maker fell nearly 4% on Thursday after Trump told Fox News Channel that China had agreed to buy 200 planes, far below analysts’ expectations. They were down about 2.6% on Friday, while shares of GE Aerospace fell 2%.
Industry sources said Boeing was initially in negotiations for at least 500 narrow-body planes linked to the Beijing summit, with dozens of wide-body planes and potentially up to 200 at a later date.
Trump said Xi would make another visit to Washington in September, implying that Washington could become the focal point for the next tranche of potential aircraft orders.
However, concerns over after-sales service weighed on purchasing decisions, said Li Hanming, an independent expert on China’s aviation industry.
“The reason why China is not buying is very simple: no one wants to buy something without guaranteed maintenance and after-sales support. Last May, the United States was still threatening to restrict exports of spare parts. If they imposed such embargoes on spare parts, who would still dare to buy Boeing?”
