China has 'important concerns' about Boeing 737 MAX design changes: regulator

China has raised “important concerns” with Boeing regarding design changes proposed to end the grounding of the Boeing 737 MAX airliner, Beijing’s aviation regulator said Thursday, declining to say when it might fly in China again. The remarks broke months of public silence from China, the first country to ground the 737 MAX in March following the second deadly crash involving the model in less than five months. “Boeing is currently upgrading its software to the 737 MAX, and it is still a work in progress. The CAAC has raised our important concerns on areas such as system reliability and safety assessment,” CAAC spokesman Liu Lusong said. The 737 MAX would need to be re-certified and pilots given comprehensive and effective training before it could fly in China, he reiterated. He said the causes of two crashes that killed 346 people needed to be investigated with effective measures put in place to prevent another one. China in April said it had set up a task force to review design changes submitted by Boeing.<br/>