With US$2.5 billion in active contracts for aircraft products, China is now offi cially Boeing’s largest foreign partssupplier.

China is an “exciting proposition”, offering greater opportunity for original equipment manufacturing (OEM) rather than “just selling airplanes,” said Boeing China operations vice president John Burns at the recent Asian Aerospace International Expo and Congress, accordingto Xinhua News Agency.

“Liberalization is creating a more competitive environment and airline strategies are assisting with this growth by responding to the customer’s desire to save time by fl ying point-to-point,” he said. “China now has a role in all current Boeing models.” Boeing currently has 170 direct Boeing employees in China and some 3,000 workers in Boeing joint ventures, according to Burns. He said the country will require more than 2,900 aircraft to support industry growth.