China has started making formal arrangements to purchase 200 aircraft from Boeing, with around 150 of those aircraft now in various stages of finalizing the deal, according to Jamieson Greer, the U.S. commerce representative. This follows a political announcement made during a meeting in Beijing between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in May. The commitment will be distributed gradually to Chinese airlines, with each airline handling its own negotiations and announcements. Details such as the specific models of the aircraft, the engines used, delivery timelines, and the exact airlines purchasing them have not yet been disclosed. According to a source close to the matter, as reported by Reuters, most of the aircraft are expected to be purchased by the three largest Chinese state-owned airlines: Air China, China Eastern Airlines, and China Southern Airlines. However, this distribution has not yet been officially confirmed. For Boeing, the realization of this 200-aircraft deal would mark a significant development, coming after nearly a decade of reduced commercial activity in China. Between 2005 and 2017, Chinese airlines ordered an average of 127 Boeing aircraft each year. Since 2017, that number has dropped to just six aircraft annually on average. This decline can be attributed to several factors, including Sino-American trade tensions, the 737 MAX crisis following two fatal accidents in 2018 and 2019, a global grounding of the aircraft, a growing preference for Airbus in major Chinese procurement efforts, and the emergence of the Comac C919, a Chinese single-aisle aircraft designed to compete with the Airbus A320neo and Boeing 737 MAX families on the domestic market. Despite the slowdown, Boeing has continued delivering aircraft to Chinese customers, particularly under existing orders. The new commitment, however, represents the first major commercial agreement between China and Boeing since the deal signed in November 2017 by China Aviation Supplies Holding Company, which included 300 aircraft—260 Boeing 737s and 40 long-haul aircraft. While no official breakdown of the aircraft types has been released, the single-aisle market is likely to be the main focus of the agreement. Kelly Ortberg, CEO of Boeing, noted that the deal would allow Boeing to re-enter the Chinese market for narrow-body aircraft after a long period of effectively halted orders. Although Trump had suggested in May that Chinese purchases could eventually reach up to 750 Boeing aircraft, Boeing described the 200-aircraft deal as an "initial tranche." No further orders have been announced ahead of the new Trump-Xi meeting, and Greer did not indicate that additional agreements are imminent. The possibility of expanding the deal will also depend on Boeing's ability to ensure a steady supply of spare parts and critical components for the fleets already operated by Chinese airlines. This issue of supply is a crucial condition for Beijing to consider moving beyond the first tranche, particularly given that bilateral trade restrictions have complicated access to certain aerospace components.