President Trump said Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed during their meetings in Beijing to order 200 Boeing aircraft, calling the commitment a major victory for American manufacturing and jobs.

In an interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity, Trump described his discussions with Xi as productive and said the final aircraft commitment surpassed what Boeing had initially hoped to secure.

“One thing [Xi] agreed to today: he’s going to order 200 jets. That’s a big thing. Boeing — 200 big ones. That’s a lot of jobs. It’s a lot. Boeing wanted 150, he got 200,” Trump said.

Specific details regarding the agreement — including the types of aircraft involved and delivery schedules — were not immediately released.

Trump arrived in China on Wednesday accompanied by a group of prominent American executives for meetings with Chinese government officials and business leaders. The visit marked his first trip to China since 2017 and took place amid heightened tensions involving trade disputes, artificial intelligence, Taiwan, and the aftermath of the conflict with Iran.

Among the executives traveling with Trump was Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg, who recently described the trip as “a meaningful opportunity” for the aerospace company.

Although Ortberg did not publicly disclose the number of planes being discussed during a recent analyst call, he said he was “highly confident” that any agreement reached between Trump and Xi would involve aircraft purchases.

Bloomberg had previously reported that China was considering a much larger purchase of roughly 500 Boeing 737 Max aircraft as airlines there seek to meet growing demand for air travel.

Despite the announcement, Boeing stock dropped more than 4% during Thursday trading after investors reportedly viewed the order as falling short of some Wall Street expectations, according to Reuters.

The last major Boeing agreement announced by China came during Trump’s 2017 visit to Beijing, when Chinese officials agreed to purchase 300 aircraft from the American manufacturer, Reuters reported.

Boeing continues to compete aggressively with European aerospace giant Airbus for dominance in the Chinese aviation market, one of the largest and fastest-growing in the world.

Other high-profile executives traveling with the American delegation included Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, Apple CEO Tim Cook, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink, Citi CEO Jane Fraser, and Cargill CEO Brian Sikes.

{Matzav.com}