Boeing to Announce Location of First China Plant Later This Year

(Beijing) — Boeing Co. will announce the location of its first aircraft plant in China by the end of this year, the company said, as it attempts to expand its presence in the world's second-largest economy.

The American company had announced in September 2015 its plan to co-build a jetliner completion facility with state-owned Commercial Aircraft Corp. of China Ltd. for Boeing 737 jetliners. The new factory will focus on painting, installing interiors and completing assembly, the company said.

Ian Chang, vice president of Boeing's China Operations and Business Development office, said Tuesday that China accounted for about a third of Boeing's orders for 737 jetliners.

"Building a completion center for 737 jets in China will bring the products closer to Chinese customers and improve production capacity," Chang said. "Therefore, it can increase Boeing's support for the world's most dynamic and fastest-growing civil aviation market."

The plant will deliver about 100 jetliners to the Chinese market each year, he said.

However, the plan is not without its critics, including Boeing's largest labor union and U.S. Republican Party presidential nominee Donald Trump.

"That will end up taking a tremendous number of jobs away from the United States," Trump said last year during a speech to African-American business leaders in South Carolina.

But Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg promised the overseas facility would not come at the expense of jobs in the U.S.

While China has been encouraging innovation in the aerospace industry as part of its "Made in China 2025" initiative to revamp the country's manufacturing sector, the civil aviation market is still dominated by Boeing and its chief rival, Airbus Group SE.

Airbus and Boeing are in joint ventures with units of state-owned Aviation Industry Corp. of China to supply aircraft parts. Airbus also opened an assembly center in the northern port city of Tianjin in 2009 to assemble its A320 and A330 jetliners.

Contact reporter Chen Na (nachen@caixin.com); editor Kerry Nelson (kerry@caixin.com)