Larry Culp, the chief executive of GE Aerospace, was observed Friday exiting a meeting at the Beijing offices of China’s National Development and Reform Commission, the country’s influential economic planning body, a Reuters witness reported.
The executive’s meeting at the NDRC facility follows recent statements by U.S. President Donald Trump on Fox News regarding his Thursday discussions with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing. Trump announced that China had committed to purchasing 200 Boeing aircraft, marking the nation’s first acquisition of American-manufactured commercial planes in almost ten years.
Given GE Aerospace’s role as Boeing’s main engine provider, the company is positioned to benefit from this purchasing deal, though the agreement was smaller than the approximately 500 aircraft that market analysts had anticipated, leading to stock price declines for both firms.
Both Culp and Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg are participating in a business group consisting of more than twelve American corporate leaders who are traveling with Trump during his initial state visit to China in nearly a decade.
GE Aerospace has not yet provided a response to inquiries about the specific purpose behind Culp’s meeting at the NDRC.
