Understanding the $250 billion China-US deal

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China and the US signed 34 deals worth more than 250 billion US dollars, covering multiple sectors, from infrastructure and medicine to energy and aviation.

The largest one went to West Virginia.

China Energy Investment Corp, the world’s largest power company, agreed to invest 83.7 billion US dollars in energy and chemical projects in West Virginia. That’s more than the state’s entire economic output in 2016.

This investment extends over 20 years, covering projects such as power generation, chemical manufacturing and the storage of liquefied natural gas. The deals will likely help create lots of jobs in West Virginia where “coal used to be king,” but now is in steep decline.

West Virginia's Governor Jim Justice speaks during a rally in Huntington, West Virginia, US on August 3, 2017. /VCG Photo

The state’s governor Jim Justice said on Thursday, “This is a great day for the state of West Virginia... today is another sign as we joined with my good friend President Trump to announce the largest investment in our state’s history.”

The next biggest deal is China’s biggest state oil company, Sinopec, which plans to develop a 43-billion-dollar project with Alaska Gasline Development Corporation.

Alaska’s governor is thrilled by the deal, saying “This is an agreement that will provide Alaska with an economic boom comparable to the development of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System in the 1970s.”

The Sinopec couldn’t be more welcome. In 2016, Alaska’s GDP had contracted for four consecutive years – it’s the longest decline on record.

/VCG Photo

The state is expected to lose jobs for another two years, but this could turn things around. The US State Department estimates the project will create 12,000 jobs.

Next on the list is Boeing. The US aircraft maker won orders and commitments worth 37 billion US dollars for 300 jets, including 260 narrow-body Boeing 737 jets and a total of 40 wide-body 787 and 777 aircraft from China Aviation Supplies Holding Corporation.

Boeing said one out of every four jetliners now rolling off its assembly lines is delivered to China. Boeing estimates a demand for more than 7,000 new airplanes in the country over the next 20 years valued at 1 trillion US dollars.

A Boeing 777 aircraft /VCG Photo

There are many more deals.

General Electric signed three deals with Chinese partners worth a total of 3.5 billion US dollars.

China's online retailer JD.com pledged to buy two billion US dollars of US goods, more than half of that would be American beef and pork.

Qualcomm signed three non-binding agreements to sell 12 billion US dollars of semiconductors to China’s top domestic cellphone makers, including Xiaomi, OPPO and vivo, over the next three years.

Some western media outlets reported the deals are just loose commitments and non-binding. However, many of them are with Chinese state-owned companies and banks. It means the top leadership of China is behind them, and it is more likely that the purchases and investments will happen – or as Americans like to say: “You can take it to the bank.”

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