Paul Lewis/SINGAPOREGuy Norris/LOS ANGELES
CHINA HAS CANCELLED the planned visit of a high-level trade delegation to the USA, throwing into doubt an estimated $3 billion-worth of new-aircraft orders for Boeing.
The Chinese delegation, headed by foreign-trade and economic-co-operation minister Madame Wu Yi, was expected to announce orders, for up 30 Boeing jet-powered airliners, during a scheduled 31 March visit to Seattle.
Wu had been scheduled to make an earlier visit to McDonnell Douglas (MDC) at Long Beach, California, on 22 March. She was to have signed a finalised contract for the first 20 MD-90-30 TrunkLiners for China Eastern and China Northern Airlines.
China had made the trip conditional on Wu meeting US President Bill Clinton and on the US Government delaying the imposition of sanctions in the long-running software-trade dispute between the two countries. Washington has apparently agreed to neither condition.
Sino-US relations have been further soured by the recent escalation in tension with Taiwan and nearby large-scale Chinese military and live-missile-firing exercises. The US Government in response despatched two US Navy aircraft carriers to the area, an act which China has labeled as "interference".
While the visit has not been rescheduled for a later date, industry officials hope that it may now go ahead nearer to June when China's most-favoured-nation (MFN) trading status is up for renewal. "Congress has a limited memory and a trip now is too early to have an impact on the MFN debate," says a source.
The cancellation of Wu's visit is not expected to have any impact on MDC's previously announced $1 billion TrunkLiner deal.
The first of 11 MD-90s for China Northern is in final assembly and is due for delivery in July, while work has already started at Shanghai Aviation Industrial in China on a follow-on batch of 20 licence-built twinjets.
Boeing had hoped to use Wu's visit to cement a long-awaited deal for ten General Electric-powered 777s, together with five Pratt & Whitney PW4056-powered 747-400s and about 15 737-600s/-700s or -800s. It now fears losing some business to Airbus Industrie, which Chinese Premier Li Peng is due to visit during a planned 11-14 April trip to France.
According to industry sources, the European consortium is fighting to secure a China Aviation Supplies (CASC) package order for up to 50 aircraft.
The prospective deal is tipped to include 25 A320s/321s for China Southern Airlines, up to 20 similar aircraft for Air China and three previously ordered CASC A340s for China Eastern.
Source: Flight International