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China has delayed a billion dollar deal to purchase 30 Boeing passenger jets in the wake of a collision between a US spy plane and a Chinese fighter, a report said on Tuesday.
"Those are all on hold now," said an official from a jet-leasing company asked by Chinese airlines to help tide them over with the resulting shortfall in aircraft
Another unnamed executive of a Western jet-leasing firm told the Asian Wall Street Journal China's order for at least 30 Boeing 737 New Generation planes had been put back because of the incident near Hainan island last month.
He said he had been informed by Chinese aviation authorities last week.
Officials of the US-based Boeing Co and Chinese regulators declined to comment on the deal, the daily said.
Following the Hainan incident, Boeing chairman Phil Condit expressed concern that the collision might have a "short-term" impact on the company's order book in China.
A China Daily report last week said: "Any major events between China and the US would affect the balance that the Chinese government holds in deciding whose aircraft it is going to buy."
Boeing has high hopes for sales in China, which it projects as the world's second larget market for commercial jet through 2019.
The company expects Chinese carriers will add 1,790 new planes during that period, the Asian Wall Street Journal said.
(China Daily 05/15/2001)
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