In an internal memo to employees, Boeing Commercial Airplanes Chief Executive Ray Conner reportedly said the company is in important discussions with Chinese partners about strategic partnership in China and also possible sales agreements.
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The aircraft deals, potentially worth tens of billions of dollars in total, are collectively the largest order the aerospace firm has received from Chinese companies. China’s President, Xi Jinping, arrived in Seattle Tuesday and is scheduled to visit the Boeing plant in Everett, Wash., Wednesday. China promptly ordered 45 of the company’s A330 passenger jets after dithering for two years.
Xi said the Chinese people supported his anti-corruption campaign, which has touched every level of the government, Communist Party and military. The aircraft giant estimates that it would receive more than 35% orders from the Asian region, which would be entertained by the Chinese plant.
European rival Airbus already has a final assembly operation for medium-range Airbus 320 aircraft in the northern port city of Tianjin, and plans to open a completion and delivery centre for long-haul A330s.
Looking closer to home, demand on the domestic front is certainly there, if Boeing’s recent Market Outlook 2015 is anything to go by.
A plan for the Boeing plant in Zhoushan, in the eastern province of Zhejiang, has been submitted to the State Council, China’s cabinet, the Shanghai Securities News reported. While the move is beneficial to the aircraft manufacturer as a sprawling multinational enterprise, the proposal to put up a factory, particularly in China, would threaten the jobs of the American workers.
The completion center announcement was also expected if not exactly anticipated, at least by Boeing’s labor unions. It also raised its projection for the China’s aircraft demand by 5 percent in August.
Holden said Boeing told him on Tuesday that the China facility would finish and paint narrowbody 737 planes built at its Renton, Washington, factory.
Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg confirmed that the company is already making preparations to set up a facility in China and will transfer jobs there, according to Reuters.
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China Aviation Supplies Holding, ICBC Financial Leasing and China Development Bank Leasing inked the jet purchase agreement after Xi’s arrival in Seattle, Xinhua said. It is, however, unclear which models the three are planning to buy.
