- Announcement follows US President Donald Trump’s visit to Beijing.
- Boeing highlights deal as major milestone for US aviation industry.
- Company says deal marks reopening of China market for aircraft orders.
Aerospace giant Boeing on Friday confirmed that China had committed to purchasing 200 aircraft, as previously announced by US President Donald Trump during his visit to Beijing.
“We had a very successful trip to China and accomplished our major goal of reopening the China market to orders for Boeing aircraft,” the company, whose CEO, Kelly Ortberg, was part of the US delegation to China, said in a statement.
“This included an initial commitment for 200 aircraft, and we expect further commitments will follow after this initial tranche,” Boeing said, thanking the Trump administration “for making this milestone happen.”
“We now look forward to continually addressing China’s aircraft demand,” it said.
China’s last order from Boeing dates back to 2017, when Trump went to Beijing at the start of his first White House term. At that time, it ordered 300 single-aisle and wide-body planes — a mega-deal valued at $37 billion.
On Thursday, Trump had referred to the new Boeing commitment, telling Fox News host Sean Hannity in an interview: “I think it was a commitment.”
“That’s a lot of jobs,” the president added.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One as he flew home from China, Trump said the deal included “a promise of 750 planes, which will be by far the largest order ever, if they do a good job with the 200.”
US media have reported for several months that Beijing was poised to make a major order from Boeing that would include 500 single-aisle 737 MAXs and about 100 larger 787 Dreamliners and 777s.
“He (Xi) committed to 200 Boeings, big ones, 777s, and 737s, and a lot of big, big ones, big, beautiful Boeing planes,” Trump said in the interview with Fox News aired on Friday evening.
For China, such a big order would secure capacity to keep growing its aviation market as production of its home-grown COMAC C919 narrow-body falls short of ambitious targets.
It would also help Boeing narrow the gap with rival Airbus, which has pulled far ahead in China in recent years.
An estimate from aviation intelligence and advisory firm IBA put the value of the 200-aircraft order at roughly $17 billion to $19 billion, assuming 80% of the mix is made up of MAX jets.
“This number, however, could increase to $25 billion if a larger proportion (around 40%) of the total order is announced for the widebody aircraft,” IBA’s Samuel Kenekueyero said.
The deal would be a much-needed win for Trump, whose aggressive tariffs and other trade policies have so far failed to make much of a dent in the large US trade deficit.
An order for more than 500 jets, if it materialises, would be the largest in aviation history, surpassing IndiGo’s 500-aircraft deal for Airbus narrowbodies, though China’s purchase would likely be split among its three major state-run carriers.
Order size below expectations
Shares of the U.S. planemaker had dropped nearly 4% on Thursday after Trump told Fox News Channel China had agreed to buy 200 jets, well below analysts’ expectations. They were down about 2.6% on Friday, while GE Aerospace shares fell 2%.
Industry sources have said Boeing was originally in negotiations for at least 500 narrowbody jets tied to the Beijing summit, with dozens of widebody jets and potentially as many as 200 to follow at a later date.
Trump said Xi would pay a return visit to Washington in September, implying it may become the focal point of the next tranche of potential plane orders.
However, concerns over after-sales support have weighed on buying decisions, said Li Hanming, an independent expert on China’s aviation industry.
“The reason China isn’t buying is very simple: no one wants to buy something without guaranteed after-sales maintenance and support. Last May, the U.S. was still threatening export restrictions on parts. If they impose parts embargoes like that, who would still dare to buy Boeing?”
