US opens door to Chinese aviation industry

US aviation regulators signed a new pact with their Chinese counterparts that effectively opens the door to selling China-made airplanes and parts to the US and other countries. The agreement boosts Beijing’s hopes of eventually becoming a global supplier of commercial jetliners and of breaking into a market currently dominated by Boeing and Airbus. The US has a huge trade surplus with China in the aerospace sector, some $14.5 billion in 2015. China accounts for about 20% of Boeing aircraft deliveries and companies including General Electric, United Technologies and Rockwell Collins provide parts for the new China-built Comac C919 jetliner, which is spearheading the country’s effort to establish a top-tier global aerospace industry. According to The Wall Street Journal, the pact signed last month by the Federal Aviation Administration and the Civil Aviation Administration of China, or CAAC, follows years of talks between the two agencies aimed at speeding approval of planes and parts.