President Trump caps China visit with trade deals
November 14, 2017 Category VIP visits, Weekly
Melania and Donald Trump, Xi Jinping and Peng Liyuan
U.S. President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania paid a two-day state visit to China on November 8 and 9, starting with a visit to the Forbidden City. High on the agenda were the situation on the Korean peninsula and the trade imbalance between the two countries, market access and technology transfers.
The two Presidents witnessed the signing of deals worth USD253 billion following formal talks in Beijing, making the U.S. head of state’s visit to China one of the most fruitful for Chinese and U.S. businesses in terms of the value of agreements struck. They agreed to continue high-level dialogue. Trump and Xi characterized the visit as a success, but their joint press conference lasted less than 15 minutes. President Xi said it is necessary to have continued in-depth discussions on trade and lessen restrictions on the investment environment.
Contracts signed included the Chinese purchase of 300 Boeing jets for USD37 billion, mobile phone chipsets from Qualcomm for USD12 billion, USD1.6 billion of soybeans, and vehicles and parts from General Motors and Ford for a total of USD11.7 billion. Other agreements included memoranda of understanding on liquefied natural gas sales and industrial development cooperation. One of the most substantive agreements was a gas deal between the State of Alaska, Alaska Gasline Development Corp, China Petrochemical Corp (Sinopec), China Investment Corp (CIC) and the Bank of China (BOC), involving a total investment of up to USD43 billion. Officials said the joint development agreement will create up to 12,000 American jobs and reduce the trade deficit between the U.S. and Asia by USD10 billion a year. China’s major online retailer JD.com also agreed to buy USD1.2 billion of American beef and pork.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said: “Today’s signings are a good example of how we can productively build up our bilateral trade.”
China posted the second highest monthly trade surplus of USD26.6 billion with the United States in October, hours ahead of Donald Trump’s first visit to China as U.S. President. The bilateral trade surplus increased 12.2% from a year earlier. In the first three quarters of the year, bilateral trade increased 13.7% year-on-year to USD422.64 billion. China’s exports to the U.S. grew 11.5%, outpaced by a nearly 20% expansion in imports from the latter. China receives 26% of U.S.-exported Boeing aircraft, 56% of its soy beans, 16% of its automobiles, 15% of its farm produce, and 15% of its integrated circuits.
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