To reassure the company’s employees, Boeing Commercial Airplanes CEO Ray Conner sent them an internal memo on Tuesday in which he wrote “I want to assure you that agreements we may reach with our Chinese partners will not result in layoffs or reduce employment for the 737 program in Washington state”, Reuters reports. As part of his official trip, Xi Jinping will also visit Boeing’s Paine Field assembly plant.
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Late Wednesday afternoon, after markets had closed for the day, Boeing Co. According to Boeing, the Chinese facility will perform finishing work, such as painting, whereas the aircraft would still be manufactured at its Renton facility.
“The emerging middle class in China is helping to boost demand”, Mohshin Aziz, an analyst at Malayan Banking Bhd., told Bloomberg News. The worldwide Association of Machinists said Boeing has discussed its desire to expand collaboration with China but shared no details.
“China’s rapidly growing aviation market plays a crucial role in our current and future success”, Boeing chairman Jim McNerney said in a statement issued last week to announce the visit.
Boeing may be firing another warning shot across the bow of the U.S. Congress, which has failed to renew the charter of the U.S. Export-Import Bank and shows little sign of revisiting that decision.
The planes included some that had already been ordered but the buyer had not been identified.
Meanwhile, Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China Ltd. also signed a cooperative document with Boeing to build a 737 aircraft completion center in China.
Boeing is battling with Airbus Group for dominance of Chinese market, which Boeing says will need $1 trillion worth of new planes over the next two decades.
“Boeing has always been a supporter, participant and promoter of business cooperation between China and the United States”.
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Shukor, with Malaysia-based Endau Analytics, said China was unique in that orders came from the government and planes were then distributed to the airlines and leasing companies.
