China, US in $253.5 bln trade ‘miracle’

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US and Chinese firms have signed deals worth more than 250 billion US dollars on the sidelines of Donald Trump's state visit.

Chinese President Xi Jinping revealed the figure after he witnessed the signing of the deals alongside US President Trump.

"To keep opening up is our long term strategy. We will not narrow or close our doors. We will open them wider and wider," Xi told business executives at a bilateral business exchange on Thursday.

The facts show that China and the US have huge potential in economic and trade cooperation, Xi said.

The deals bonanza ranges from billions in Chinese soybean imports to major projects like the development and export of liquefied natural gas from Alaska.

November 9, 2017: Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Trump witness the signing of commercial deals in Beijing. / Reuters Photo

"This is truly a miracle," China's Commerce Minister Zhong Shan said at a briefing in Beijing.

Trump has brought more than two dozen captains of US industry with him on this trip. They represent energy, industrial, financial services and agricultural industries.

The deals singed from Wednesday to Thursday cover a wide range of fields, leading by manufacturing and transport industries.

List of China-US commercial deals

Manufacturing

Viroment signed an agreement with Hangzhou Iron and Steel worth 800 million US dollars addressing textile and sewage waste for over 800 plants.

The same company also signed a 100-million-US-dollar agreement with Guangye Guangdong Environmental Protection Group.

Caterpillar Inc and China Energy Investment Corporation signed a five-year strategic cooperative framework agreement covering future agreements for mining equipment sales and rentals, technology applications and product support.

Honeywell signed agreements with Oriental Energy to adopt Honeywell products for projects to convert propane into propylene and with Spring Airlines to use Honeywell cockpit technologies and auxiliary power units in aircraft.

Transport

Boeing Co signed a deal to sell 260 Boeing B-737s, 40 B787s and B777s to China Aviation Supplies Holding Co for 37 billion US dollars.

Bell Helicopter, part of Textron Inc, reached a deal to sell 50 additional Bell 505 helicopters to Reignwood International, with Reignwood also being named the exclusive reseller for the Bell 505 in China.

Terex Utilities Inc and Xuzhou Handler Special Vehicle signed a strategic letter of intent for Xuzhou Handler to purchase 5,000 insulated aerial devices from Terex over five years worth 250 million US dollars.

Ford Motor and China’s Anhui Zotye Automobile have agreed to invest a combined 756 million US dollars to set up a 50-50 joint venture in China to build electric passenger vehicles.

Energy

China Energy Investment Corp Ltd plans to invest 83.7 billion US dollars in shale gas development and chemical manufacturing projects in the state of West Virginia.

China’s top state oil major Sinopec, Bank Of China and China Investment Corp signed a 43-billion-US-dollar deal with Alaska Gasoline Development Corp to help develop Alaska’s liquefied natural gas sector and the deal could create up to 12,000 American jobs during construction.

Air Products and Chemicals signed an agreement with Yankuang Group for a 3.5-billion-US-dollar coal-to-syngas production facility in China.

Tech

Qualcomm will sell 12 billion US dollars's worth of semiconductors to Chinese smartphone makers Xiaomi, Oppo and Vivo.

Software company SAS signed a cooperation agreement with Shenzhen Zhenghong Technology to establish the Big Data Innovation Center for Smart Manufacturing in Shenzhen.

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

Investment

Goldman Sachs & Co and CIC announced a strategic agreement to establish a China and US industrial cooperation fund, which will target five billion US dollars in commitments to invest in US companies in the manufacturing, industrial, consumer and healthcare industries that have or can develop China business connections.

Agriculture

The US soybean industry has signed letters of intent worth five billion US dollars with Chinese importers covering the purchase of an additional 12 million tonnes of soybeans in the 2017-2018 marketing year.

JD.Com Inc said it would purchase more than two billion US dollars of US agriculture and food products over next three years, including at least 1.2 billion US dollars of beef from Montana Stock Growers Association and pork from Smithfield Foods Inc.

Others

Dow Chemical Co and Shanghai-based bike-sharing firm Mobike signed a memorandum of understanding to develop lighter-weight and more environmentally-friendly Mobikes.

Drylet LLC agreed to form a joint venture with Nanjing Hoyo Municipal Utilities Investment and Administration for wastewater treatment in China. Hoyo Municipal Utilities Investment and Administration will also become an equity investor in Drylet.

(With inputs from Xinhua and Reuters)