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| China President Xi Jinping speaks at Boeing’s Everett, Wash. factory. Photo: Boeing |
[Avionics Today 09-24-2015] Boeing welcomed China President Xi Jinping to its wide-body commercial airplane factory this week and announced several agreements that will broaden and deepen mutually beneficial cooperation between Boeing and China. The agreements include orders and commitments for 300 Boeing narrow-body and wide-body aircraft, and expanded collaboration between Boeing and China’s commercial aviation industry.
First, Boeing and National Development Reform Commission (NDRC) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that will advance their collaboration through industrial cooperation, development of technologies to reduce aviation environmental impact, and continue cooperation to support safety, efficiency and capacity of China’s air transport system, among others. Under the framework of the MOU, Boeing and NDRC also announced a new initiative to turn agricultural waste in China into sustainable aviation biofuel. Boeing will partner with NDRC to turn items from farms, such as corncobs and wheat stalks, into sustainable jet fuel as a way to reduce aviation’s carbon emissions.
Also, Boeing and Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC) will partner to open a facility in China for the interiors completion, paint and delivery of Boeing 737 aircraft to Chinese customers. The joint venture facility will enable future production rate increases at Boeing’s 737 final assembly factory in Renton, Wash. Boeing, COMAC, and Chinese government officials are working toward a final business agreement and will announce the facility’s location and timing of first deliveries at a later date.
Last, Boeing and the Aviation Industry Corp. of China (AVIC) have signed a framework agreement to further advance AVIC’s manufacturing capabilities by adding major component and assembly work packages, strengthening leadership, and developing AVIC’s broad aviation infrastructure and business practices, including supply chain management.