SEOUL (Reuters) -A new Boeing 737 MAX landed back in China on Monday, flight tracking data showed, a sign the U.S. planemaker was resuming deliveries to Chinese customers as Beijing and Washington ease their tariff war.
Boeing, which halted deliveries of new planes to China in April as the world’s two largest economies ramped up tariffs on each other, said at the end of May deliveries would resume in June after the tariffs were temporarily scaled back for 90 days.
The plane, painted in the livery of Xiamen Airlines, landed at Boeing’s Zhoushan completion centre near China’s commercial hub of Shanghai, after leaving Seattle on Saturday, and halting to refuel in Hawaii and Guam as it crossed the Pacific.
Data from tracking app Flightradar24 shows Boeing had originally ferried the craft to Zhoushan in March, before its return to the United States in mid-April, when Chinese airlines stopped taking new Boeing aircraft.
Boeing, Xiamen Airlines and regulator the Civil Aviation Authority of China (CAAC) did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
China represents about 10% of Boeing’s commercial backlog and is an important and growing aviation market.
Representatives of China and the United States will meet in London on Monday to discuss a trade deal.
At least three 737 MAX jets were repatriated by Boeing to the United States in April from Zhoushan, where they were to receive final touches before delivery to Chinese carriers. The first to return was the same one that landed on Monday.
Boeing has previously said customers in China would not take delivery of new planes due to tariffs, and it was looking to resell potentially dozens of aircraft.
However the planemaker had not sent the planes elsewhere, despite wanting to cut inventory.
Beijing has not commented on why Boeing deliveries stopped, but said Chinese airlines and Boeing had been severely affected by U.S.-imposed tariffs.
In April, Boeing said it had planned for 50 jets to go to Chinese carriers during the rest of the year, with 41 in production or pre-built.
(Reporting by Lisa Barrington; additional reporting by Sohie Yu; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
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