In visit to Boeing, Hu emphasizes trade
EVERETT, Wash. -- President Hu Jintao of China called yesterday for fewer trade barriers and closer ties between his country and the United States, while defending China's heavily criticized policies on trade, currency, and energy.
His speech followed a warm welcome at Boeing Co., where Hu sought to soothe tensions over the US-China trade deficit, telling workers his country would need thousands of new airplanes in the coming years.
Speaking to an audience of Washington state business and political leaders including
''Strong business ties meet the fundamental interests of our two countries and peoples and will continue to play an important role in stabilizing our relations," Hu said through a translator. He flew to Washington, D.C., shortly after the speech.
China's rapid growth and development will increase demand for American products and expertise in areas such as technology, Hu said, and ''I hope the American businesses will seize the opportunities."
The comments came just ahead of a summit with President Bush, in which the two sides plan to tackle thorny issues including trade.
Visiting Boeing's widebody jet assembly plant earlier, he called his country's long-running relationship with Boeing an example of the potential of China-US trade.
''Boeing's cooperation with China is a living example of the mutually beneficial cooperation and win-win outcome that China and the United States have achieved from trade with each other," Hu said.
He estimated that demand for new aircraft in China will reach 2,000 planes in the next 15 years.
Hu's speech at the company's massive Everett plant came just days after Chinese officials confirmed a commitment to order 80 Boeing 737 jets, in a deal valued at $5.2 billion at list prices. The order has yet to be finalized, and airlines typically negotiate discounts.
The Boeing deal is one of several purchases the Chinese have announced recently as officials try to ease tensions over the massive trade gap between the United States and China.
Hu's meeting today with Bush will cover China's much-criticized currency and other trade policies, its aggressive search for oil, and its positions on the developing nuclear programs in Iran and North Korea.
At his lunchtime speech, Hu touched on several of those issues, defending Chinese currency and energy policy but acknowledging that there have been bumps in the road.
''Given the rapid growth, sheer size, and wide scope of our business ties, it is hardly avoidable that some problems have occurred," Hu said. ''However, mutually beneficial cooperation and common development remain the defining feature of our business relations."
Hu pointed out that his country has trade deficits with Japan, Korea, and some southeast Asian countries.
