Boeing CEO says 200-jet China deal an ‘initial tranche’ with more to come

[HONG KONG] China’s commitment to buy 200 Boeing jets during a recent visit by US President Donald Trump will be firmed up later this year and is only an “initial tranche” of a potentially far bigger deal, the planemaker’s CEO Kelly Ortberg said.

Investors had expressed disappointment over the size of the deal, which was much smaller than a roughly 500-plane package that sources told Reuters was under discussion, ahead of a meeting between Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping in May.

But, at a US conference on Wednesday (May 27), Kelly Ortberg said that his trip to China alongside Trump had been “super successful”, and it reopened the market to Boeing’s narrowbody planes for the first time in nearly a decade.

This comes after an effective order freeze due to trade tensions between Washington and Beijing.

“It’s a good start. And I’m very confident that keeping that market open, that’s an initial tranche of aircraft, and there will be more to come,” he said.

The 200-jet commitment is an entirely new deal and does not include previously unannounced orders, said a source, who added that delivery schedules had yet to be confirmed.

The jets are expected to be distributed primarily among China’s big three state-owned carriers, Air China, China Eastern Airlines and China Southern Airlines, the source added on condition of anonymity because the information has yet to be made public.

Boeing declined to comment beyond its CEO’s remarks. China’s commerce ministry and the state-owned airlines did not respond immediately to requests for comment.

Ortberg said that once the Chinese government commits to a batch of narrowbody aircraft, it allocates them to individual airlines, after which Boeing negotiates firm orders on an airline-by-airline basis.

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“The initial commitment of 200 will turn into an order later on in the year,” he said. “I never had a plan to go to China and return with a packet full of 500 orders.”

Commitments in stages

Trump said that after his visit to China, the Boeing purchases could rise to as many as 750 planes.

China intends to buy several hundred more Boeing jets but will not announce the full order at once, opting instead to release commitments in stages, the source said.

It could later commit to purchasing a further 300 to 500 jets, potentially bringing the total to as many as 700 planes, the source said.

But that would be contingent on Boeing fulfilling its obligation to supply critical spare parts for jets already in service with Chinese airlines, which have struggled to secure components amid trade tensions between Washington and Beijing, the source added.

China’s commerce ministry confirmed the 200-jet deal last week, though it did not elaborate on the types of planes.

The ministry added that the US would provide supply guarantees for aircraft engine parts and components – a condition the source described as a key precondition for any further purchases.

Trump had threatened in 2025 to impose export controls on Boeing plane parts, as part of Washington’s response to export limits on rare earth minerals. REUTERS