Boeing, GE Aerospace CEOs meet China's state planner after Trump-Xi summit

By Ju-min Park and Eduardo Baptista

BEIJING, ‌May 15 (Reuters) - The ​chief executives ​of GE Aerospace and Boeing on Friday met the leaders of China's powerful state planner, as U.S. President Donald Trump touted a deal that would see Beijing buy ‌hundreds of jets and engines from the two companies.

GE Aerospace's Larry Culp and ⁠Boeing's Kelly Ortberg were part of a delegation of more than a dozen U.S. conglomerate executives accompanying Trump on his first ‌state visit to China in almost ‌a decade.

Culp was seen leaving a meeting at the headquarters of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) in Beijing on Friday, according to a Reuters witness.

The NDRC later confirmed the meetings, ​saying Culp met vice-chairman Li Chunlin, while Ortberg met both Li and NDRC chairman Zheng Shanjie.

The meetings came as Trump announced China had agreed to order 200 Boeing jets, its first purchase ⁠of U.S.-made commercial aircraft in nearly a decade.

AWAITING DETAILS

The deal has become a centrepiece of Trump's effort to portray the trip as a ​major success, even as the two-day visit yielded fewer confirmed commercial agreements than expected.

"It was surprising that there isn't more information on the deals ... if there ​really are 200 Boeing airplanes, what does that mean ‌in terms of a timeline?" said Cameron Johnson, Shanghai-based senior partner at supply chain consulting firm Tidalwave Solutions.

Johnson said post-summit meetings such as those with the ⁠NDRC were likely aimed at turning leader-level pledges into regulatory approvals and delivery timelines.

As Boeing's main engine supplier, GE Aerospace also stands to benefit from the deal, even though it fell short of the roughly 500 jets markets ⁠had expected, sending shares in both companies lower.

Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One that China had agreed to buy ​400 to 450 GE Aerospace engines and that the order could eventually grow to as many as 750 planes, without providing further details or a timeline.

The NDRC readouts of Friday's meetings did not mention the aircraft deal. Li ‌told Culp he hoped GE Aerospace would increase investment in China, while Zheng told Ortberg he welcomed closer business ties between Boeing and Chinese companies.

At a ‌state banquet hosted by President Xi Jinping on Thursday, Culp and Ortberg were seated next to the chairmen ⁠of Air China and domestic planemaker COMAC.

Boeing and ‌GE Aerospace did not respond ​to requests for comment on the purpose of the NDRC visits.

(Reporting by Ju-min Park and Eduardo Baptsita. Writing by Eduardo Baptista. Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman, Andrew Heavens and ‌Mark Potter)

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