REUTERS/Dan Catchpole
Boeing has sent a plane to China for the first time since tariff tensions boiled over, ahead of further trade talks between the US and China.
The 737 Max touched down in Zhoushan around noon local time on Monday, according to data from FlightAware.
It concluded a lengthy transpacific journey that began on Friday, when the plane, registered as N230BE, flew from Seattle to Hawaii. On Saturday, it had another refuelling stop in Guam.
China is 16 hours ahead of Seattle, so though the plane arrived three calendar days after it first took off at around 10 a.m. local time Friday, its journey was roughly 59 hours in total.
Boeing did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
This wasn’t the first time that this jet, painted in the livery of Xiamen Airlines, crossed the ocean.
Flight-tracking data shows it first departed Seattle in March, only to end up back there a month later.
It was one of three planes that Boeing sent back to the US in April from its delivery center in Zhoushan after trade tensions escalated.
President Donald Trump had introduced tariffs as high as 145%, and China retaliated by imposing a 125% fee on anything imported from the US.
“Many of our customers in China have indicated they will not take delivery,” Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg said on an earnings call later that month.
He added that around 50 planes would instead be resold to other airlines.
However, tariff tensions have since eased. In May, talks saw the US reduce its levy on Chinese products to 30%, while China reduced its tariffs to 10%.
On Monday, the two countries are set to meet for another round of talks in London in hopes of resolving the trade war.
That’s especially welcome news for Boeing. Ortberg said China accounts for about 10% of its commercial-aircraft order book.
Meanwhile, rival planemaker Airbus predicts China will be the world’s biggest market for aviation services by 2043, accounting for 20% of all aircraft deliveries.
The European firm received a boost last week after Bloomberg reported that China is mulling an order for hundreds of Airbus jets.
Airbus stock subsequently rose more than 3%.
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