BEIJING: (Reuters) China on Wednesday (May 20) said it will buy 200 Boeing jets and seek an extension of a trade truce struck with the US that is set to expire this November, following a high-profile summit of the countries' leaders aimed at stabilising bilateral ties.
The purchase, announced in a statement by the Chinese commerce ministry, marked Beijing's first confirmation of the Boeing order, though it did not elaborate on the types of planes China would buy.
If finalised, the orders would mark Boeing's first major Chinese deal in nearly a decade, after the US planemaker was largely shut out of the world's second-largest aviation market amid trade tensions between Beijing and Washington.
US President Donald Trump visited China last week for a summit with President Xi Jinping, in a trip that produced a series of trade pledges including the Boeing purchase and agricultural market access.
Trump said after the Beijing summit that the Boeing purchases could rise to as many as 750 planes, adding that they would be fitted with GE Aerospace engines.
The US will provide China with supply guarantees for aircraft engine parts and components under the Boeing deal, the Chinese ministry said.
TRADE TRUCE
The two sides will seek reciprocal tariff cuts on $30 billion or more worth of goods each, the ministry said, adding that US tariffs on China must not exceed the level set under an arrangement reached last year.
"If they cut tariffs for products (worth) around $30 billion, it would be around 10% of US imports from China. This is not significant enough to change the market's GDP forecast," said Zhiwei Zhang, president and chief economist at Pinpoint Asset Management.
"Nonetheless this is a positive step in the right direction. As long as the two countries are talking to stabilise the bilateral relations, it is good news for global investors."
China and the US reached an agreement in Kuala Lumpur before a Trump-Xi meeting in South Korea in October that extended their tariff truce for a year.
The deal included US tariff reductions on Chinese products and a pause in Beijing's new restrictions on rare earth minerals and magnets, which are vital for technologies like consumer electronics, electric vehicles and defence.
The statement came after US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Reuters that the Trump administration was "not in a rush" to extend the tariff and critical minerals trade truce with China, signalling more negotiations with Beijing in the coming months to renew it.
Both sides will work together to address each other's concerns on export controls, the ministry said, adding that Beijing reviews export licence applications for critical minerals including rare earths that are intended for civilian uses.
The White House said in a fact sheet released on Sunday that China would purchase at least $17 billion of US agricultural products from 2026 to 2028, excluding an existing soybean commitment.
The Chinese commerce ministry statement did not confirm the number, but said the two sides achieved "positive results" in the agricultural sector and reached agreements on mutual market access.
Beijing will restore registration of eligible US beef exporters and resume imports of some US poultry products, the ministry said.
The US has pledged to remove or make progress on several non-tariff barriers affecting Chinese agricultural exports, with steps that would facilitate exports of Chinese dairy products, it added. - Reuters
