Seattle: Chinese President Xi Jinping beat Modi to it when he toured Boeing’s Everett, Washington, factory, and placed orders and commitments from China for 250 narrow body 737 aircraft and 50 wide body aircraft, valued at about $38 billion (£24.90 billion) at list prices.
Boeing Co said, on Wednesday, they announced the orders after the Chinese president’s tour of the factory. Boeing declined to say how many planes had been previously ordered, leaving uncertainty about the total value. Despite the announcement, Boeing’s shares were down 1.5 percent at $131.95 in afternoon trading in New York.
Xi told hundreds of Boeing employees in the factory that he sees bright prospects for future collaboration between China and Boeing. This, he said in the backdrop of Boeing’s plans to build a 737 completion centre in China that would finish, paint and deliver 737s built at Boeing’s factory in Renton, Washington. Machinist union members say they stand to lose work to China and some planned to protest on Wednesday. Boeing said, on Tuesday, that it doesn’t expect to lay off or reduce staff related to the 737 because of the new factory in China.
Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump also bashed Boeing Co. over the plans to open the new facility in China saying in a speech in South Carolina that it “will end up taking a tremendous number of jobs away from the United States.”
Boeing Chief Executive Dennis Muilenburg thanked Xi for the orders and called his visit a “testament” to the relationship between the U.S., Boeing and China.
