Boeing is hoping Biden-Xi talks lead to a China reopening

Boeing is looking for a glimmer of hope when US President Joe Biden meets with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on Monday. It’s been 3 1/2 years since a mainland Chinese airline took delivery of a Boeing 737 Max aircraft -- a wait brought on by a pair of fatal crashes, a global pandemic and simmering tensions between the world’s two most powerful countries. China used to take a quarter of the cash-cow jets that the US planemaker built each year, and the beleaguered aerospace company could use a lift. Airbus has a lock on China’s lucrative narrow-body jet market for now -- and will until Biden can persuade Xi to let Boeing back in. The Arlington, Virginia-based company is supplying him with a compelling case. Boeing projects Chinese airlines will require 8,485 new passenger and freighter planes valued at $1.5 trillion over the next two decades, accounting for more than a fifth of global deliveries. Airbus and China’s homegrown manufacturer Comac are unlikely to meet that demand alone. If Xi hints Monday at a willingness to work with Biden on aerospace, Boeing would view it as a win, since aircraft have loomed large in relations between the two countries for decades. Even a pledge to continue talks or consider a state visit would be promising sign. The question is whether Biden is ready to press Xi on the matter when they meet in Bali, Indonesia. His administration is focused on the shortfall on Beijing’s side in delivering on a 2020 trade deal to buy tens of billions of dollars’ worth of Boeing planes. But instead of asking for specific concessions for the aircraft maker, the White House views the situation in the broader context of Chinese economic practices that disadvantage many US companies beyond Boeing, a person familiar with the administration’s thinking said.<br/>