Boeing opens finishing plant in top export market China, walking a ‘fine line’ in trade spat
Published: Dec 15, 2018 12:01 p.m. ET
The plane maker is navigating U.S.-China turbulence while trying to serve its biggest export market
Reuters
The first Boeing 737 MAX finished at the company’s new “completion and deliver” center near Shanghai. Boeing China’s president, John Bruns, says the new center in Zhoushan will produce 100 jets a year and employ 300 people at full capacity.
By
TREFORMOSS
ZHOUSHAN, China — Boeing Co. opened a new Chinese production facility, as the American aviation company tries to cater to its top export market while steering clear of the tensions battering U.S.-China relations.
At what Boeing BA, -2.06% calls its “completion and deliver center” here on an island south of Shanghai, the first finished jet, a 737 MAX, rolled off the production line Saturday, ready for delivery to Air China Ltd.
Though a Boeing billboard for the facility at the local airport proclaims “the future is built here,” the center doesn’t actually build planes. Rather it paints and fits the interiors of jets flown in from Boeing’s factory in Renton, WA, ahead of their delivery to Chinese airlines.
The facility, and its limited remit, illustrate the tightrope Boeing is walking as Washington and Beijing spar over trade, including the transfer of technology.
X
See Also
A Big Question Heading Into 2019: What's Next for U.S.-China Trade?
“Boeing’s walking a fine line,” said Scott Kennedy, an expert on China’s industrial policies at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank. Boeing, he said, must court China to safeguard its market position without risking a backlash at home, where manufacturers are under pressure to build more in America and less in China.
Boeing opens finishing plant in top export market China, walking a ‘fine line’ in trade spat
Published: Dec 15, 2018 12:01 p.m. ET
1
The plane maker is navigating U.S.-China turbulence while trying to serve its biggest export market
Reuters
The first Boeing 737 MAX finished at the company’s new “completion and deliver” center near Shanghai. Boeing China’s president, John Bruns, says the new center in Zhoushan will produce 100 jets a year and employ 300 people at full capacity.
By
TREFOR
MOSS
ZHOUSHAN, China — Boeing Co. opened a new Chinese production facility, as the American aviation company tries to cater to its top export market while steering clear of the tensions battering U.S.-China relations.
At what Boeing BA, -2.06% calls its “completion and deliver center” here on an island south of Shanghai, the first finished jet, a 737 MAX, rolled off the production line Saturday, ready for delivery to Air China Ltd.
Though a Boeing billboard for the facility at the local airport proclaims “the future is built here,” the center doesn’t actually build planes. Rather it paints and fits the interiors of jets flown in from Boeing’s factory in Renton, WA, ahead of their delivery to Chinese airlines.
The facility, and its limited remit, illustrate the tightrope Boeing is walking as Washington and Beijing spar over trade, including the transfer of technology.
X
SEE ALSO
A Big Question Heading Into 2019: What's Next for U.S.-China Trade?
“Boeing’s walking a fine line,” said Scott Kennedy, an expert on China’s industrial policies at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank. Boeing, he said, must court China to safeguard its market position without risking a backlash at home, where manufacturers are under pressure to build more in America and less in China.
Reuters
