President Donald Trump said Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to order 200 Boeing jets during a high-level meeting in Beijing, describing the talks as productive and the aircraft commitment as larger than Boeing had expected.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity, Trump said Xi had agreed to the order during their discussions.
“One thing [Xi] agreed to today: he’s going to order 200 jets. That’s a big thing. Boeing – 200 big ones. That’s a lot of jobs. It’s a lot. Boeing wanted 150, he got 200,” Trump said.
Terms Of The Boeing Order Remain Unclear
Details of the potential agreement were not immediately disclosed, including delivery timelines, aircraft models or the final commercial terms. It was also not immediately clear when the order would be formally completed or how it would be divided among Chinese airlines.
Trump arrived in China on Wednesday with a delegation of senior American business leaders for meetings with Chinese officials and executives. The visit marks his first trip to the country since 2017 and comes at a politically sensitive moment, with Washington and Beijing facing renewed tensions over trade, artificial intelligence, Taiwan and the broader fallout from the war with Iran.
Boeing Sees Opening In China Market
Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg was among the executives traveling with Trump. Ortberg recently said the China visit represented “a meaningful opportunity” for the aerospace giant.
During a recent analyst call, Ortberg declined to specify the number of aircraft under discussion but said he was “highly confident” that any agreement reached between Trump and Xi would “include some aircraft orders.”
Bloomberg previously reported that China was considering purchasing roughly 500 Boeing 737 Max aircraft to meet growing airline demand, underscoring the scale of potential business at stake for the U.S. manufacturer.
A Deal With Economic And Political Weight
A major Boeing order from China would carry both economic and diplomatic significance. For Boeing, it would represent a major commercial win in one of the world’s largest aviation markets. For Trump, the announcement offers a tangible business outcome from a visit dominated by complex strategic disputes.
Still, without finalized terms, the scope of the agreement remains uncertain. Aircraft orders of this scale often involve years of negotiations, financing arrangements and delivery schedules, meaning the political announcement may only be the first step toward a completed transaction.
