Boeing opens first 737 completion plant in China amid US trade war

Boeing has opened a plant in China for the completion of its 737 for the first time on Saturday. 

It is an investment aimed at building a sales-lead over rivals Airbus, but Boeing has admitted concern over the US trade war with China.

Boeing delivered the first of its 737s completed at Zhoushan, 180 miles southeast of Shanghai, to Air China during a ceremony with top executives on Saturday. 

Both Boeing and Airbus have been vying for plane orders from China in what is set to become the biggest aviation market in the world within the next decade, overtaking the United States. 

The ceremony was overshadowed by the trade war though, which is currently in a 90-day truce as the negotiate a deal. 

“Am I nervous about the situation? Yeah, of course. It’s a challenging environment,” John Bruns, President of Boeing China, told reporters on a conference call earlier on Saturday.

“We have to keep our eye on the long game in China. Long term, I’m optimistic we will work our way through this,” he said.

Chicago-based Boieng invested $33m (£ ) in 2017 and now own a majority stake in state-owned Commercial Aircradt Corp of China (COMAC) to build the completion centre.

The company calls itself the top US exporter and delivered more than one out of every four aeroplanes it made last year to customers in China, where it forecasts demand for 7,700 new planes over the next 20 years valued at $1.2tn.