- China has agreed to buy 200 Boeing planes, US President Donald Trump said, in a multibillion-dollar deal that would mark the nation’s first purchase of US-made commercial jets in nearly a decade.But Mr Trump’s announcement, in an interview with Fox News Channel’s “Hannity” on May 14, fell short of the 500 737 Max and wide-body aircraft Chinese airlines were expected to buy at the upper extreme of a landmark deal. The news sent Boeing shares down 4.7 per cent in extended trading on May 14. Mr Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are meeting this week to address pain points between the world’s largest economies, including sanctions and trade barriers, as well as the war in Iran. Mr Trump said China agreed to order 200 “big” Boeing jets. “Boeing wanted 150, they got 200,” he added.It is unclear what aircraft were included in the order. A Boeing representative did not respond to a request for comment.For Boeing, the agreement bookends years of negotiations with Chinese airlines and ends its lengthy order drought in the world’s second-biggest aviation market.Resuming sales to China would help the company shore up its finances amid a corporate turnaround led by Boeing chief executive Kelly Ortberg, part of Mr Trump’s delegation. It will also assure Chinese airlines of access to US-built planes as global demand for new jetliners outstrips manufacturers’ ability to make them.An order for 200 jets “is a disappointment for a market looking for 300 or more and details around type”, Bloomberg Intelligence analyst George Ferguson said. Until the order is confirmed by an airline, “it won’t go into the firm backlog and, in years past, agreements by the Chinese government for plane sales haven’t been consummated”.China has only placed orders for 39 Boeing planes this decade, so if carried through, this could herald a return to buying from the US, Mr Ferguson added.China has not unveiled a major Boeing order since Mr Trump last visited the country in 2017, and much of that deal had been announced previously. Beijing typically orders jets from Boeing and rival Airbus in bulk and then distributes them among the state-owned carriers. In January 2020, China committed to purchasing US$77 billion (S$98 billion) in US-made goods, including aircraft, but did not follow through with the pledge after the Covid-19 pandemic flattened air travel.Boeing eventually lost its market lead in China to Airbus amid rising trade tensions and the extended grounding of the 737 Max. China was the first country to ground the Max after two fatal crashes and did not allow it to resume flying until 2023, years after the US Federal Aviation Administration allowed the model back into the skies. Since July 2022, major Chinese airlines have ordered or committed to about 700 Airbus jets, including a 137-plane purchase by China Southern Airlines and one of its subsidiaries announced in April. Still, Airbus has not been without issues in China. In April, the European planemaker said that administrative delays in China had hindered the handover of almost 20 planes, without elaborating on the issues. China has also developed its own jet that rivals the Airbus A320 and the Boeing 737, dubbed the C919. While the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China-built C919 has won over 1,000 orders, predominantly from Chinese airlines, the ramp-up in production and deliveries has been slow.Since Mr Trump’s return to the White House, Boeing has won a flurry of orders, with such purchases featuring prominently in trade agreements with countries such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar and South Korea. Mr Trump has touted his role in helping Boeing sell 1,000 planes. “Boeing gave me the award for the greatest salesman in the history of Boeing, which was a nice little award,” he told a White House business roundtable in December. BLOOMBERG