Japan’s push to build its own civil aviation sector and stay competitive in the technology race against China could receive a boost from a potential partnership with American aircraft giant Boeing.

The country is already a key Boeing partner, possesses advanced manufacturing technologies and could benefit from a captive domestic market – factors that analysts say make its plan to develop a commercial aircraft viable, as it seeks to rebound from the failed SpaceJet airliner programme.

“It’s what the sociologists and international relations experts call ‘techno-nationalism’,” said Lance Gatling, president of Nexial Research and an aviation and aerospace analyst. “When a Japanese person gets on a plane, they are proud because it is Japanese-made – and Japanese companies are happy to pay extra for a domestically produced solution.”

That impulse extends to keeping pace with technological rival China, as Japan strives to reclaim its reputation as a global innovation hub – one that, in decades past, gave the world the Walkman portable cassette player, the lithium-ion battery and the QR code.

On Saturday, the Mainichi newspaper reported that China’s agreement to purchase 200 Boeing aircraft during US President Donald Trump’s visit to Beijing in May had caught Tokyo’s attention.

On Saturday, the Mainichi newspaper reported that China’s agreement to buy 200 aircraft from Boeing during US President Donald Trump’s visit to Beijing in May had caught Tokyo’s attention.