Photo taken on December 15 shows a Boeing 737 MAX passenger airplane at the Boeing Zhoushan Completion and Delivery Center. （Photo: Shen Weiduo/GT）
U.S. planemaker Boeing and its Chinese joint venture partner Commercial Aircraft Corp of China (COMAC) announced the delivery of the first airplane, a 737 Max, to Air China from the new 737 Completion and Delivery Center in Zhoushan, East China's Zhejiang Province on Saturday.
Boeing said the delivery "marks a new era in Boeing's partnership with the Chinese aviation industry, as well as the growing importance of the Chinese aviation market."
The airplane delivered from Zhoushan was built at Boeing's 737 factory in Renton, Washington, and flown to China for interior installation, paint, customer activity and delivery.
"It is the first time that Boeing expanded part of its 737 production system out of the U.S.," said Marc Allen, president of Boeing International, when introducing the Zhoushan project on Saturday.
The facility was built in partnership with the Zhejiang provincial and Zhoushan municipal governments and will become fully operational in phases as capacity is expanded over time.
The Chicago-based planemaker aims to deliver 100 of the 737 narrow-body jets per year from the Zhoushan Center starting from 2019. All airplanes delivered from the facility will be 737 MAXs destined for Chinese airlines.
Industry analysts said that the delivery, which comes after a 90-day trade truce was reached between China and the U.S. earlier this month, shows the two countries' heavy reliance on each other in the aviation sector, and the U.S. company's commitment to the Chinese market.
Wang Yanan, deputy editor-in-chief at Aerospace Knowledge magazine, told the Global Times on Saturday that the two have an indispensable relationship with each other in the aviation industry chain, and the dependence will only be stronger over time.
China is a major supplier of Boeing's components and parts, and China is also of great significance to the U.S. company in terms of its market size, Wang said.
More than 10,000 Boeing aircraft flying around the world have used parts and components made in China and Chinese firms have participated in the manufacturing of all Boeing's aircraft types, including the 737, 747, 767, 777 and the most innovative Boeing 787 Dreamliner.
Meanwhile, eyeing the world's fastest-growing aviation market that is on course to become the largest commercial aviation market in the world, Boeing has also been expanding its foothold in hopes of grabbing a bigger share in China in the coming years.
The International Air Transport Association said in its 20-Year Air Passenger Forecast that China will become the world's largest aviation market in the mid-2020s.
China accounted for about 13 percent of Boeing's revenue last year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
"Boeing's Zhoushan project will only be a part of its long-term plan in China," Wang said, adding it is possible that the U.S. planemaker will expand the function of Zhoushan Center.
Wang said although some local planemakers, such as COMAC, are seen as rising competitors of the U.S. giant, "we still have much to learn from Boeing, which has years of experience and a long-term vision of its global strategy."
