As high-level trade talks between US and Chinese officials are underway, companies in the US continue to search for investment from China their own way. High-speed rail technology is one of the fields in which they are trying to build connections. Mark Niu reports from San Francisco.

Compared to the hi-speed trains in cities like Beijing and Shanghai, California's rail technology lags behind.

That's partly why Michael Lee of China's largest train technology supplier, CRSC, is in San Francisco looking for opportunities.

MICHAEL LEE PRESIDENT, CRSC RESEARCH & DESIGN INSTITUTE, INC. "The current U.S.-China tensions definitely are having an impact on the people, on our potential customers, how they think about doing business with China. However, I feel confident we do bring a lot of advantages."

Lee's attending the Bridge from China event and listening to experts like Wenli Wang, whose accounting firm, Moss Adams, helps Chinese clients invest in the U-S.

She says in the current climate, the Committee on Foreign investment in the U.S., known as CFIUS, has become a bigger factor.

WENLI WANG LEADER OF CHINA PRACTICE, MOSS ADAMS "A client of mine, they announced the deal last October and they are going through the process. It's taken much longer. Before mid-year 2017, you know people talk about CFIUS, but really the deals get denied are very minimal. And now it's become a regular concern."

David Kaufman starting doing business in China more than 30 years ago.

DAVID KAUFMAN DIRECTOR OF GLOBAL STRATEGIES, NIXON PEABODY "Most of the business is done locally. The federal government hasn't played a huge role in encouraging investment internationally anyways. Local government and local business and local institutions have to roll up their sleeves and get it done. And you have to create an environment where folks coming from overseas feel comfortable investing."

Kaufman helped found one of the groups supporting this event, ChinaSF-an initiative formed under San Francisco's center of economic development.

MARK NIU SAN FRANCISCO "Over the past ten years, ChinaSF has recruited more than 96 Chinese companies, created nearly 800 jobs and attracted more than 5.1 billion in foreign direct investment from China."

Other U.S. cities are studying ChinaSF's model, whose success has also spawned both LatinSF and AsiaSF.

In a few months, all of those groups will soon fall under GlobalSF-a non-profit organization that gets a grant from the city.

DARLENE CHIU BRYANT EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, CHINASF "I think we are unique, the fact that we have such a close relationship with the city. Because we are outside the city we can explain things, talk about things in ways that organizations and particularly businesses will understand. Whereas, many times as a city official, it's really hard to explain things that a business, especially a foreign business can understand."

Chiu Bryant says the current trade tension has had little impact on her work, except in one area.

DARLENE CHIU BRYANT EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, CHINASF "I think there is never a lack of investors. However, what I have been seeing is that the State Department has started to reject visa applications from China, so I've gotten quite a few calls about that. And unfortunately, that's something I can't help with."

But as Chiu Bryant and many others courting Chinese investment agree, international business is still about local connections. Mark Niu, CGTN, San Francisco.