Trump’s tour in China adds $250 billion trade agreements

U.S. companies, from chip giant Qualcomm to aircraft maker Boeing, announced a slew of deals on Thursday during U.S. President Donald Trump's visit to Beijing. The deals could be valued as much as $250 billion, though some have been long in the pipeline and many are non-binding.

The signing ceremony was carried out in the presence of US President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping. Being the world’s biggest developing economy and developed economy, China and the United States are highly complementary rather than competitive, Xi said when meeting with business delegates from both countries.

“This is truly a miracle,” China’s Commerce Minister Zhong Shan said at a briefing in Beijing.

The quarter of a trillion dollar haul underscores how Trump is keen to be seen to address a trade deficit with the world’s second-largest economy that he has long railed against and called “shockingly high” on Thursday.

The massive deal comes in the backdrop of Trump’s complaints of the trade deficit that his country has with China. But they do not resolve many business and trade problems that the US government and companies have raised concerns about, including lack of access to sectors in the Chinese market, cybersecurity, intellectual property theft and Communist Party of China cells inside foreign firms.

William Zarit, chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in China, said the deals pointed to “a strong, vibrant bilateral economic relationship” between the two countries, Reuters reported.

U.S. tech companies like Facebook and Google are mostly blocked in China. Automakers Ford Motor Co and General Motors must operate through joint ventures, while Hollywood movies face a strict quota system.
“Yet we still need to focus on leveling the playing field, because U.S. companies continue to be disadvantaged doing business in China” Zarit addded.