US and Chinese firms signed deals worth US$13.6 billion ahead of a high-level meeting yesterday that could formally endorse talks for a bilateral investment treaty, officials said.
China said the agreements inked in Washington and St Louis, Missouri, on Monday were part of plans by Chinese companies to increase imports from the trade deficit-ridden US.
The deals gave a psychological boost to the two-day US-China Cabinet-level “strategic economic dialogue” beginning yesterday at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, east of Washington.
Thirty-five deals worth US$8.3 billion were signed by high-tech, manufacturing and telecommunication companies at the US Chamber of Commerce in Washington, the Chinese government said in a statement.
The chamber said among US firms linked to the deals were General Motors, Texas Instruments, Cisco, Ford, IBM, Oracle and Motorola. Chinese firms included dominant local cellphone operator China Mobile.
In St Louis, companies from the two nations signed contracts valued at US$5.32 billion for the purchase of soybeans as well as chemical, telecommunication and electromechanical products, the statement said.
The deals will contribute to the “healthy development” of US-China ties and signify “an important part of the series of programs taken by Chinese business people to increase imports from the United States,” said Chinese Commerce Minister Chen Deming (陳德銘) as he witnessed the signing of agreements in Washington.
The US is saddled with a ballooning trade deficit with China, which hit a record US$256.2 billion last year.
“These partnerships will stimulate American jobs and contribute to our country’s economic growth,” said US Chamber of Commerce president Tom Donohue.
Also witnessing the Washington event was Chinese Vice Premier Wang Qishan (王岐山), who will lead the Beijing team to the Annapolis talks. The US side will be led by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke.
With their economies in crisis, the top officials from the US and China will grapple with wide ranging issues such as financial sector reforms, currency concerns, protectionist pressures, energy security, trade, product safety and investment.
They are expected to announce the beginning of talks for a key investment pact at the end of the talks, business officials said.
“It is our understanding that one of the possible outcomes could be the launch of formal negotiations of a bilateral investment treaty,” US-China Business Council president John Frisbie said.
The US had held initial talks with China throughout last year on the treaty and if the two powers decide to pursue the treaty negotiations, benefits could include enhanced and non-discriminatory market access for investments, more transparent laws, and guarantee of due process for investors.
Chinese investors are reportedly concerned about a US investment review process that Washington says is targeted to address acquisitions that raise real national security concerns.
US companies fear that China’s interest in foreign investment is no longer as robust as before, and that foreign investment regulations are opaque and seem to be designed to favor Chinese “national champions,” US officials said.
These concerns include Beijing’s implementation of the new anti-monopoly law, protection of specific Chinese competitors rather than competition in general, and treatment of foreign firms more harshly than Chinese firms, they said.
“A bilateral investment treaty would provide additional protections to investors from each country and the other country and goes beyond what was in the World Trade Organization entry agreement, for example,” Frisbie said.
Paulson said the dialogue this week would discuss “the best way to promote and protect bilateral investment and counter protectionist pressures.”
In an indication of a possible US-China agreement on energy security, Wang said ahead of the talks that they should set up joint research and development centers to encourage new energy and environmental protection technologies.
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