Boeing Co. will sell 300 airplanes to China and build a 737 aircraft completion and delivery center in the country as part of a deal between the Chicago-based aircraft giant and Chinese President Xi Jinping during his current state visit to the United States, the Xinhua News Agency reported on Wednesday.
China is Boeing’s largest international market, accounting for approximately a quarter of the company’s deliveries so far this year. In the latest deal, the airplanes will have a combined worth of $38 billion at list prices.
Xi, who arrived in Seattle on Tuesday aboard a Boeing 747 Air China plane, toured Boeing’s Paine Field factory on Wednesday.
Commercial Aircraft Corp. of China Ltd. (Comac) also signed an agreement with Boeing for the aircraft completion center, according to Xinhua.
"Boeing airplanes have played an important role in supporting the development of China's aviation transportation for the past 40 years," said Li Hai, president of China Aviation Supplies Holding Company. "These additional airplanes will further help connect the people in China and around the world."
The package has 240 aircraft slated for Chinese airlines, including 190 Boeing 737s and 50 wide-body aircraft, and another 60 737s for leasing companies ICBC and CDB Leasing.
Raymond Conner, president and CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, said that China is a key international market for commercial airplanes.
"We thank our Chinese customers for selecting fuel-efficient Boeing airplanes to meet their fleet growth and expansion," he added.
The 737 completion and delivery center will be the first facility of its kind outside the U.S. for Boeing. European plane manufacturer Airbus Group SE, which Boeing competes against for plane orders, already has a similar facility in Tianjin. Airbus signed an additional agreement in July to establish its second plant in the country.
In two decades, China is expected to overtake the U.S. as the world’s biggest aircraft and travel market, according to Boeing. It predicts airlines will need to add 6,330 new planes worth $950 billion to their fleets by 2034 to accommodate the increase in number of travelers.
In a statement from the International Air Transport Association in April, China will become the world’s biggest passenger market by 2034, with one in five passengers traveling to, from and within the country. The number of these passengers is expected to nearly triple by 2034 to around 1.3 billion, slightly higher than the expected 1.2 billion for the United States, according to official estimates.