Historically, China made up as much as 25 per cent of Boeing’s order book, but today it is less than 5 per cent.
Chinese airlines have orders for at least 222 Boeing jets, according to Cirium, an aviation analytics company. The country has 1,855 Boeing airplanes in service.
The vast majority of planes on order and in service are Boeing’s popular 737 single-aisle jet.
A ban on spare parts or exports would also hit CFM International, the joint venture between GE Aerospace and France’s Safran, which makes the LEAP engine used on the Boeing 737 MAX.
GE also makes engines for the 777 and 787, two larger jets that China has ordered.
Boeing’s European rival Airbus has only 185 orders from Chinese customers, according to Cirium. Airbus has a production facility in Tianjin, which produces about four of its single-aisle A320 jets a month.
China is trying to jumpstart its own commercial jetliner industry, largely with the COMAC C919, a competitor to the A320 and 737. Chinese customers have ordered 365 of the domestically-built jet, according to Cirium.
US export controls on Western-supplied parts for the C919 have significantly slowed production of that aircraft. As of September, COMAC had delivered only five of the 32 jets Chinese customers expect this year.
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