China offers huge rewards for U.S. companies like Boeing. But it could also take that business away.

Another challenge is China’s reputation for low-quality products. “For better or worse, China has become synonymous in the global marketplace with a place where you can produce cheap goods in mass quantities,” said Anish Goel, a former director of geopolitical affairs for Boeing Commercial Airplanes and current senior fellow at the New America Foundation, a Washington think tank. “And they’re going to have to shed that to compete in the airplane market. Because that industry is one where people want high quality, and they’re willing to pay for it.”