COMAC and Boeing ink deal for joint center

Boeing Co and Commercial Aircraft Corp of China, or COMAC, signed an agreement on Tuesday to co-establish a Boeing 737 completion center in China, after President Xi Jinping's arrival in the Seattle area, home to the headquarters of Boeing Commercial Airplanes.

Additionally, a group of Chinese companies, including China Aviation Supplies Holding Co, ICBC Financial Leasing Co and China Development Bank Leasing, made orders in Seattle for 300 Boeing aircraft. The value of the orders has not been disclosed.

The 737 completion center, which will be a joint venture of the two aircraft manufacturers, will mark the first time for Boeing to build a production facility outside the United States. The deal also is a sign of the two countries' deeper cooperation in the civil aviation industry.