Boeing Co, which is counting on its new 7E7 aircraft to catch up with Airbus SAS, said it has awarded contracts to two Chinese companies to produce parts for the new jetliner.
The world's second-largest maker of commercial aircraft signed a memorandum of understanding with Chengdu Aircraft Industrial Co to make rudders for the 7E7.
Hafei Aviation Industry Co will make metallic and composite parts.
The contracts are worth "hundreds of millions of dollars," Boeing said in a press statement, declining to give specific figures.
Airbus and Boeing are trying to increase sales in China, the world's fastest-growing aviation market.
The Chicago-based plane maker is betting that awarding contracts to Chinese companies will persuade the country's government-owned airlines to choose its planes over Airbus, which last year overtook Boeing in plane deliveries for the first time.
"We are in good discussions with Chinese airlines and it is our hope that we will have solid orders from them this year," said Jim Morris, Boeing's senior manager of supplier management, in the statement.
China's passenger traffic is forecast to rise 20 percent this year to 103.8 million people, according to the International Air Transport Association.
As much as 35 percent of the structure of the so-called "Dreamliner" aircraft will be made by Japanese companies, including Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd, Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd and Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd.
Boeing, the biggest supplier of civilian aircraft to Japan Airlines System Corp and All Nippon Airways Co, won a US$6 billion order for 50 planes from All Nippon Airways Co, its first for the new plane.
Toray Industries Inc, the world's biggest maker of synthetic fibers, last month received a ?330 billion (US$2.9 billion) contract to supply carbon fiber material over 18 years for making the 7E7's wings.
Chengdu Aircraft is an affiliate of China Aviation Industry Corp (AVIC I). Hafei is an affiliate of China Aviation Industry Corp.
"Chengdu Aircraft and Hafei represent the talent, technological capability and resources of China's aviation industry that Boeing needs to provide the best value to our airline customers," Morris said.
Chinese parts makers already provide parts for Boeing's 717, 737 and 757 models.
"This is the first time for AVIC I to participate in an airline program from the beginning," said Yang Yuzhong, executive vice president of AVIC I. "This shows we are growing fast" in the industry.
TYPHOON: The storm’s path indicates a high possibility of Krathon making landfall in Pingtung County, depending on when the storm turns north, the CWA said Typhoon Krathon is strengthening and is more likely to make landfall in Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said in a forecast released yesterday afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the CWA’s updated sea warning for Krathon showed that the storm was about 430km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point. It was moving in west-northwest at 9kph, with maximum sustained winds of 119kph and gusts of up to 155kph, CWA data showed. Krathon is expected to move further west before turning north tomorrow, CWA forecaster Wu Wan-hua (伍婉華) said. The CWA’s latest forecast and other countries’ projections of the storm’s path indicate a higher
SLOW-MOVING STORM: The typhoon has started moving north, but at a very slow pace, adding uncertainty to the extent of its impact on the nation Work and classes have been canceled across the nation today because of Typhoon Krathon, with residents in the south advised to brace for winds that could reach force 17 on the Beaufort scale as the Central Weather Administration (CWA) forecast that the storm would make landfall there. Force 17 wind with speeds of 56.1 to 61.2 meters per second, the highest number on the Beaufort scale, rarely occur and could cause serious damage. Krathon could be the second typhoon to land in southwestern Taiwan, following typhoon Elsie in 1996, CWA records showed. As of 8pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 180km
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STILL DANGEROUS: The typhoon was expected to weaken, but it would still maintain its structure, with high winds and heavy rain, the weather agency said One person had died amid heavy winds and rain brought by Typhoon Krathon, while 70 were injured and two people were unaccounted for, the Central Emergency Operation Center said yesterday, while work and classes have been canceled nationwide today for the second day. The Hualien County Fire Department said that a man in his 70s had fallen to his death at about 11am on Tuesday while trimming a tree at his home in Shoufeng Township (壽豐). Meanwhile, the Yunlin County Fire Department received a report of a person falling into the sea at about 1pm on Tuesday, but had to suspend search-and-rescue
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