Chinese leaders, hoping to improve relations with the United States
ahead of the first ever visit there by President Hu Jintao later this month,
have dispatched a large delegation of businessmen and economic officials both to
display China's buying power and to cool protectionist sentiment in Congress,
officials said today.
The buying mission, the largest China has assembled since reestablishing
diplomatic relations with the United States in late 1979, reflects Beijing's
view that it may be easier for it to try to lower economic tensions than to
satisfy some other American demands, such as doing more to help curtail nuclear
programs in Iran and North Korea and reducing human rights abuses at home.
More than 100 business executives joined Wu Yi, China's vice premier and
economic trouble-shooter, on an American tour that began Tuesday in Hawaii and
is scheduled to cover 13 states.
The trip is expected to result in multibillion-dollar orders for Boeing
aircraft, auto parts, computer software, telecommunications equipment, grain,
cotton and soybeans and other products, officials and state media reports said.
A senior foreign ministry official described the latest mission as "very
big," and noted that it included representatives from a wide range of
state-owned and private businesses who do not typically travel with senior
Chinese leaders.
"We do want to show the United States that trading ties are mutually
beneficial and we hope people will take notice," said the senior foreign
ministry official, who said he could speak with foreign reporters about the
matter only if he were not identified by name.
"Our message is that common interests are on the increase and the basis of
the bilateral relationship is being constantly strengthened," he said.
Mr. Hu will visit the United States from April 18-22, including his first
trip to the White House since becoming China's Communist Party chief in 2002 and
president in 2003. Chinese officials are eager to ensure a positive reception
for Mr. Hu and to demonstrate that he can keep China's most delicate diplomatic
relationship on an even keel.
China last year piled up a $200 billion dollar trade surplus with the United
States, a record trade gap for Washington. The deficit has triggered
Congressional proposals to impose tariffs on Chinese imports unless Beijing
moves faster to raise the value of its currency, the yuan, which some critics
say is kept artificially low, giving China's exports an unfair edge in
international markets.
Bush administration officials have said for months that Chinese leaders were
underestimating the surge of anti-China sentiment in Congress and among some
influential interest groups. They have pressed Beijing to increase imports from
the United States, allow the yuan to appreciate faster and do more to stop
rampant violations of American copyrights and trademarks by Chinese companies
and government entities.
China has ruled out any sudden shifts in its currency policy, insisting that
it will move steadily, but gradually, toward a market-driven exchange rate.
Officials here have signaled a willingness to do more to protect intellectual
property rights, a perennial sore point with American companies. They have
publicized fines imposed on Chinese companies that use pirated software. They
may also commit to purchases of American software for government computers.
The biggest action is on the trade front, with China expected to order at
least 80 new Boeing aircraft, mostly single-aisle 737 models, state media
reported. It could also commit to unprecedented purchases of agricultural
commodities and cutting-edge telecom equipment needed to upgrade its fixed-line
and mobile phone networks.
The foreign ministry official said the trade delegation, which also includes
representatives of a dozen government ministries, is hoping to establish
long-term ties with companies in the American heartland to promote imports in
the future.
"We would like to emphasize that this is not a one-off," the official said.
The effort to ease trade tensions comes despite the fact that Chinese
officials and some independent analysts argue that the current economic
relationship, even with the large bilateral deficit, strongly favors the United
States.
Chinese officials point out that China is now American's fourth largest
export market, with United States exports to China expanding at a 21.5 percent
annual pace since 2001.
Officials have also cited academic studies showing that if inexpensive goods
from China were not available, American business and consumers would have had to
pay up to $100 billion more for the same products made elsewhere. They also say
that much of the profit from manufacturing in China goes to American and other
foreign companies and patent holders who assemble goods and license technology
in China.
"The general feeling here is that the trade deficit does not really come at
the U.S. expense," said, an international relations expert at Beijing
University. "The US makes money at every stage of Chinese production."
But, Mr. Jia added, China is eager to help Mr. Bush ease protectionist
pressures in the United States and also create a more positive atmosphere for
discussing more contentious political and diplomatic matters.
"Bush wants to strengthen relations with China but he is politically weak at
the moment," Mr. Jia said. "For political reasons, we feel we need to help
Bush."