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.
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