China, US sign more business deals during Trump visit
BEIJING -- China have signed a series of multibillion-dollar business agreements during President Donald Trump’s visit in a tradition aimed at blunting criticism of Beijing’s trade policies.
Commerce Minister Zhong Shan said agreements signed Thursday at a ceremony attended by Trump and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, totaled $253.4 billion, though many were memoranda of understanding or other arrangements that were less than firm contracts. Commercial sales announced appeared to total about $65 billion, many involving goods Chinese companies routinely buy.
Such contract signings are a fixture of visits to Beijing by foreign leaders and are meant to defuse foreign complaints about China’s trade surpluses and market barriers. They often represent purchases already made by Chinese mobile phone makers, airlines and other customers that are collected for the visit, which means they have little effect on the trade balance.
The contracts give Trump the opportunity to claim a rare political win following a first year in office marked by little legislative progress on health care and taxes. Trump has made narrowing the US trade deficit with China — $347 billion last year — a priority. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said that was a “central focus” of his talks with Xi.
The American Chamber of Commerce in China said ahead of Trump’s visit it welcomed such contracts but expressed concern his focus on trade in goods might mean the president paid pays less attention to equally important issues such as complaints about restrictions on access to finance, health care and other industries in China’s state-dominated economy.
Following the signing ceremony, Xi promised a more open business environment for foreign companies after Trump vowed to change unfair trade relations.
“China will not close its doors and will open even wider,” said Xi. He promised a “more open, more transparent and more orderly” market.
Previous administrations have celebrated similar market-opening promises only to be left disappointed.
Both governments appeared to be doing their best to report the biggest total for contract signings for political benefit.
The biggest agreements Thursday included a deal to cooperate on a gas project in Alaska valued at $43 billion and a shale gas demonstration project in West Virginia valued at $83.7 billion. There was no indication of how much money, if any, would change hands.
Firmer contracts signed Thursday included the Chinese purchase of 300 Boeing Co. jetliners for $37 billion mobile phone chipsets from Qualcomm for $12 billion, General Electric Co. jet engines for $2.5 billion and soybeans for $1.6 billion.