Boeing on Monday made its first delivery to China in almost two months after Beijing temporarily blocked Chinese airlines from accepting the company’s jets.
According to Reuters, the aircraft, a 737 MAX 8, was flown from Seattle and landed at a Boeing facility outside Shanghai. It was painted with the colors and insignia of China’s Xiamen Airlines.
Boeing sells to a number of airlines in China, including Xiamen, Air China, Donghai Airlines, China Eastern Airlines, and China Southern Airlines. The country represents about 10% of Boeing’s order backlog, Reuters reported.
The Chinese government told the country’s airlines to stop accepting Boeing aircraft in April after President Donald Trump announced a fresh round of international tariffs, including new, higher taxes on Chinese imports. As the two countries retaliated against each other, U.S. tariffs on China climbed to 145%.
Tensions cooled as trade talks resumed, and in early May the Chinese government announced it would again allow carriers to take delivery of Boeing jets. A couple weeks later, CEO Kelly Ortberg said the company would restart shipments to China.
While Airbus outperforms Boeing in the Asia-Pacific region in general, Boeing has identified China as a key market, with its 2024 commercial outlook suggesting passenger traffic there will double by 2040. Aside from Airbus, it will also have to contend with state-owned manufacturer Comac, whose narrowbody C919 entered service with Chinese carriers in 2023. The C919 is meant to compete directly with the 737 MAX.
U.S.-China trade talks were set to enter a new phase on Monday with the start of face-to-face meetings in London. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick are among the officials representing the U.S.
