Boeing announced Thursday that it would move its headquarters to Arlington, Va., from Chicago, where it has been based for more than two decades.

The choice of Arlington, across the Potomac River from Washington, underscores the importance of the federal government and its regulatory bodies to Boeing, which is a leading military contractor as well as a major manufacturer of commercial aircraft. The company relocated its Defense, Space and Security unit to the Washington area from St. Louis in 2017.

“The region makes strategic sense for our global headquarters given its proximity to our customers and stakeholders, and its access to world-class engineering and technical talent,” Dave Calhoun, Boeing’s chief executive, said in a statement. The company, which did not give a timeline for its move, said it planned to establish a research and technology hub in Northern Virginia.

The move follows efforts by Boeing, the leading U.S. exporter, to reduce costs. The company sold a number of office parks, warehouses and unused land last year, including its commercial airplane headquarters in Seattle for $100 million.

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