Boeing Co opened its first 737 completion plant in China a strategic investment aimed at building a sales lead over arch-rival Airbus in one of the world’s top travel markets that has been overshadowed by the U.S-China trade war.
The world’s largest planemaker also delivered the first of its top-selling 737s completed at the facility in Zhoushan, southeast of Shanghai, to state carrier Air China.
Boeing and Airbus have been expanding their footprint in China as they vie for orders in the fast-growing aviation market, which is expected to overtake the United States as the world’s largest in the next decade.
Chicago-based Boeing calls itself the top U.S. exporter and delivered more than one out of every four jetliners it made last year to customers in China, where it forecasts demand for 7,700 new airplanes over the next 20 years valued at $1.2 trillion.