China expects some trade friction with the US but views stable economic ties as crucial, a top Chinese trade negotiator said, as a trade mission signed US$4.4 billion worth of contracts for US-made software, autos and soybeans.
In a spate of "checkbook diplomacy" aimed at smoothing tensions ahead of a mid-April visit to Washington by Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤), the buying mission expects to clinch contracts totaling US$15 billion, state media said, citing a statement from China's consulate in Los Angeles.
Washington and Beijing should resolve disputes in a spirit of "objectivity, equality and consultation and avoid politicizing economic and trade issues," the official Xinhua News Agency quoted Vice Premier Wu Yi (吳儀) as saying at a signing ceremony in Los Angeles on Thursday.
During the signing ceremony, businesses signed 27 deals worth some US$4.44 billion, Xinhua reported.
They included purchases of US$700 million worth of Microsoft Windows software by major Chinese computer makers such as Lenovo Group Ltd (聯想), Founder Group (方正) and Tsinghua Tongfang Computer Company (清華同方), the official newspaper Shanghai Daily reported.
Together, the three computer companies hold about half of the Chinese market for personal computers.
The deal follows a pledge by Beijing to ensure computers sold in China have only legal, licensed software, instead of the counterfeit programs widely used now.
Meanwhile, 13 Chinese soybean processing companies signed 10 contracts on Thursday in Chicago to buy a total of 4.98 million tonnes of soybeans and 20,000 tonnes of US soy oil this year, Dow Jones Newswires reported.
Wu, China's former trade minister, is leading a delegation of 202 Chinese entrepreneurs that is to visit 13 states, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry.
Qianlong.com, the official Web site of the Beijing city government, said China was expected to buy 80 Boeing planes following its purchase in November of 70 Boeings. That deal was worth about US$4 billion, although buyers typically get discounts on large orders.
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
CHINA POLICY: At the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China, the two sides issued strong support for Taiwan and condemned China’s actions in the South China Sea The US and EU issued a joint statement on Wednesday supporting Taiwan’s international participation, notably omitting the “one China” policy in a departure from previous similar statements, following high-level talks on China and the Indo-Pacific region. The statement also urged China to show restraint in the Taiwan Strait. US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell and European External Action Service Secretary-General Stefano Sannino cochaired the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China and the sixth US-EU Indo-Pacific Consultations from Monday to Tuesday. Since the Indo-Pacific consultations were launched in 2021, references to the “one China” policy have appeared in every statement apart from the
More than 500 people on Saturday marched in New York in support of Taiwan’s entry to the UN, significantly more people than previous years. The march, coinciding with the ongoing 79th session of the UN General Assembly, comes close on the heels of growing international discourse regarding the meaning of UN Resolution 2758. Resolution 2758, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1971, recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the “only lawful representative of China.” It resulted in the Republic of China (ROC) losing its seat at the UN to the PRC. Taiwan has since been excluded from