China’s president, Hu Jintao, will visit the Boeing Co.’s Everett factory and deliver a speech at the Future of Flight museum in Mukilteo during a visit to Washington state in April.
Hu will fly to Snohomish County’s Paine Field on the morning of April 18, then head to Redmond for a tour of the Microsoft campus, according to the Trade Development Alliance of Greater Seattle, which is organizing the visit.
After the tour, he’ll have dinner at Bill Gates’ home in Medina, along with about 100 other business, government and community leaders.
On April 19, Hu – along with Gov. Chris Gregoire and U.S. Sens. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell – will get a tour of Boeing’s Everett factory with Boeing Commercial Airplanes division chief Alan Mulally.
Hu then will make what is being described as “a major policy address” during a lunch meeting at the Future of Flight before departing from Paine Field that afternoon. The lunch will be hosted by former Gov. Gary Locke.
Boeing is looking forward to welcoming Hu, spokesman Peter Conte said. “We’ll be deeply honored to have the opportunity to show him the world’s greatest manufacturing site.”
Future of Flight director Barry Smith said he could not comment on plans for the luncheon.
Hu’s visit is the first stop on a state visit to the U.S. The visit was originally scheduled for September but was canceled when President Bush postponed their planned meeting in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
The visit underscores the importance of trade between China and the Northwest. China is Washington state’s third-largest trading partner, with more than $20 billion in two-way trade, according to the Trade Development Alliance.
Washington companies export paper and wood products, food, electronics, industrial machinery and medical and surgical equipment to China, according to state officials.
But the biggest benefactor of Chinese trade is Boeing.
The Chinese government and airlines based in Hong Kong have ordered 632 Boeing jets since the first order for 10 707s in 1972. In the past five years, Chinese airlines have ordered 265 jets, and a 60-jet order by the Chinese government in January 2005 remains the largest single deal for Boeing’s 787.
That order prompted Boeing to rename the plane, which it had been calling the 7E7. At the time, Boeing executives noted that “8” is considered a lucky number in China.
Reporter Bryan Corliss: 425-339-3454 or corliss@ heraldnet.com.
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