Brazil’s Embraer remains in negotiations with Chinese authorities over the prospect of building E-Jets at the Harbin-Embraer plant in Harbin, China, a company spokesperson told AIN today. The spokesperson contradicted a Dow Jones report published today indicating that Embraer will close the factory in Harbin in March, following delivery of the last 50-seat ERJ-145 on backlog. “We’re still in discussions [with the Chinese],” said the spokesperson, who nevertheless acknowledged that if Embraer and the Chinese authorities do not come to terms by the time the last airplane rolls out of the factory, the joint venture would likely dissolve.
The Dow Jones article cited a report by Brazilian news agency Estado, which attributed its information to Embraer vice president of commercial aviation Paulo Cesar de Souza e Silva. According to Estado, Souza e Silva said that Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva wrote a letter to the Chinese government about the matter but that he received no reply.
