Boeing CEO sees competition from China: paper

Boeing Chairman and CEO James McNerney (L) speaks alongside Chinese Vice Premier Wu Yi following Wu's only major policy speech in Washington, at a dinner hosted by the U.S.-China Business Council and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, May 24, 2007. Boeing Co will face aircraft-building competition from China in the next two decades, McNerney said in an interview with newspaper El Pais on Tuesday.

MADRID (Reuters) - Boeing Co (BA.N) will face aircraft-building competition from China in the next two decades, Chief Executive James McNerney said in an interview with newspaper El Pais on Tuesday.

"There is room for a third large planemaker in the next two decades," McNerney said. "China has the technology, a growing market and is a nation of entrepreneurs."

McNerney said Boeing must concentrate on growth and productivity if it is to face a competitor capable of producing at lower cost.

"On the other hand, China is good client," he added. "Just because someone is capable of being in our business doesn't mean you have to break a relationship."

McNerney said the United States should deepen its industrial cooperation with China, the world's second biggest plane market, as the Asian country develops its civil aviation infrastructure.