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When Boeing senior vice president of airplane development programs Mike Fleming left a meeting with the Civil Aviation Administration of China on Dec. 8 in Beijing, the Chinese aviation regulator issued a positive statement saying the U.S. plane maker “was welcome to deepen its development in the Chinese market,” according to the characterization by Reuters.
That statement from the Chinese government may have presented itself as a rhetorical flourish, but behind the scenes Boeing later that same day was officially granted a key clearance by the CAAC to prepare single-aisle 737 Max aircraft to Chinese airlines for delivery, according to two people familiar with the meeting.
Related: CAAC clears 737 Max, but aviation in China is different 33 months later
While the CAAC green light is essential from a regulatory perspective with Boeing, each Chinese airline delivery must still be granted clearance for a handover by China’s powerful economic regulator, the National Development and Reform Commission. The NDRC remains hugely influential in the jetliner importation process, ensuring each delivery is done in accordance with China’s central economic and aviation planning, as well as its foreign policy goals defined by the tumult of its trade and military relations with the U.S.
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