Secretary Brown's mission to China leads to breakthroughs in trade - Commerce Department Secretary Ronald H. Brown - includes calendar of bilateral trade missions

Business America, Oct 15, 1994

At the direction of President Clinton, Secretary Ronald H. Brown led a highly successful Presidential Trade Mission to China from August 27 through September 2. China has been identified by the Department of Commerce as the world's biggest emerging market, a market which possesses significant potential for generating U.S. exports in priority sectors such as information technologies, transportation, power generation and financial services. It was these sectors that received priority focus throughout the Secretary's trip.

The mission, which included 25 American CEOs and a delegation of high-level officials from several federal agencies, followed the President's May 26 decision to renew China's Most Favored Nation trading status and to de-link future renewals of that status from human rights concerns. The mission served to underscore that the President's decision was based on the conviction that broader engagement provides the basis for long-term sustainable progress, advancing both our economic and social objectives in the region, including human rights and other key policy issues. Secretary Brown was the first Cabinet official to visit China since the new policy was announced. Mission participants visited Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Hong Kong.

During the trip, the Secretary and members of the delegation met with China's most senior leadership, including President Jiang Zemin, Premier Li Peng, Vice Premiers Zou Jiahua and Li Lanqing, as well as with the Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation, Wu Yi, the mission's host, and ministers representing China's priority sectors. In all of these discussions, Secretary Brown emphasized consistently both our desire to greatly expand U.S.-China commercial cooperation and our interest in seeing China improve intellectual property rights protection, market access for goods and services, and investment conditions. The Secretary also advocated on behalf of U.S. firms interested in major projects.

U.S. and China Plan for Their Commercial Future

Under the auspices of the Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade (JCCT), which was established in 1983 to enhance bilateral communications on commercial policy issues, Secretary Brown and MOFTEC Minister Wu signed a framework agreement which will guide our two countries' commercial cooperation in priority sectors. During the April 1994 session of the JCCT, both sides committed to dramatically expanding cooperation in a number of important sectors, as well as to focus on new areas of cooperation that will broaden our commercial focus into new areas, such as commercial law and training, and commercial policy. Nearly 30 programs have been scheduled under the Joint Commission for the year ahead, including seminars, conferences, missions, training programs, and other events to enhance cooperation in priority sectors. During the mission, several new agreements in addition to the Framework Arrangement were signed under the JCCT:

* Sectoral agreements in aviation and airport infrastructure (Audrey Smerkanich, 202-482-6235); chemicals and allied products (Melissa Harrington, 202-482-0128); electric power (Chad Breckinridge, 202-482-2374); information technologies (Jack McPhee, 202-482-0571); medical technologies (Matt Edwards, 202-482-0550); motor vehicle and allied products (Charles Uthus--vehicles--202-482-0669, Lori Seaman--parts--202-482-1419); services (Josephine Ludolph, 202-482-3575); and environmental technologies (Frederica Wheeler, 202-482-3509).

* The United States announced during the mission that it would open a U.S. Commercial Center in Shanghai to further support the efforts of American companies, particularly small- and medium-sized firms, to enter the Chinese markets. (Alan Sterling, 202-482-2422).

* A U.S.-Chinese Commercial Strategy Center will be established in Washington, D.C., staffed by representatives from the Commerce Department, and entrepreneurs and business people from both sides, to focus on long-term commercial cooperation between the two countries. (Don Forest, Office of China, Hong Kong & Mongolia, 202-482-5527).

* The Commercial Law Program was expanded to provide for exchanges of legal experts and information on commercial law developments in each other's country. (Ira Sockowitz, Office of General Counsel, 202-482-6066).

* The United States and China will work together to create important joint training initiatives on commercially relevant topics such as enterprises management. (Don Forest, Office of China, Hong Kong & Mongolia, 202-482-5527).

China JCCT Sectoral Work Program Events

1994
Nov. 2-5         Foreign Buyer Initiative at
                 Automotive                     Motor Vehicle and
                 Aftermarket Week '94           Allied Parts
Nov. 7-8         Symposium on Medical Device    Medical Tech-
                 Regulation--Beijing            nologies
Nov. 7-11        Plastics Industry Mission to
                 Guangzhou,                     Chemicals
                  Shanghai, and Beijing
Nov. 11-15       American Pavilion at China
                 Plastics '94                   Chemicals
                 in Beijing
Nov. 14-22       Nuclear Safety and Waste
                 Management                     Energy
                  Mission to Beijing,
                 Shanghai, and
                 Guangzhou
December         Conference on Services
                 Markets in                     Services
                 China--Washington, D.C.
Dec. 1-9         Software Trade Mission to
                 Beijing,                       InfoTech
                 Shanghai, and Guangzhou
Dec. 5-16        Chinese Power Generation
                 Reverse Mis-                   Energy
                 sion to the U.S.
1995
Jan. 10-12       Meeting of Medical
                 Technologies Sub-              Medical Tech-
(tentative)      group Co-Chairs--Anaheim,
                 Calif.                         nologies
Feb. 13-17       Food Processing Chemical
                 Seminar in                     Chemicals
                 Shanghai and Beijing
Feb. 20-28       Transmission and Distribution
                 Equipment                      Energy
                 Mission
Feb. 21-March 2  Distribution Services Trade
                 Mission to                     Services
                 Beijing, Hong Kong, Shenzhen
February         Technical Seminar and Mission
                 on                             Services
                 Wholesaling and Retailing
March            Proposed InfoTech Subgroup
                 Meeting--                      InfoTech
                 Anaheim, Calif.
March            Special Aviation Program       Aviation
April            Telecom Trade Mission          InfoTech
April            Environmental Seminar
                 Mission                        Environment
April 20-28      Electric Power Environmental
                 Service                        Energy
                 Mission to Beijing, Guangzhou
April 22-May 4   Matchmaker Trade Mission to
                 China,                         Medical Tech-
                 Hong Kong, and Singapore       nologies
April 25-28      WasteExpo '95                  Environment
May              Proposed Computer Hardware
                 Trade                          InfoTech
                 Mission to Beijing, Shanghai,
                 Guangzhou
May 20-25        Reverse Trade Mission to
                 Supercom                       InfoTech
June             Semiconductor Assembly and
                 Test                           InfoTech
                 Equipment Trade Mission
June             Electronics Test and
                 Measurement                    InfoTech
                 Equipment Trade Mission
June             Shanghai '95 Auto Show,
                 Mission                        Motor Vehicles and
                                                Allied Parts
June 12-16       Coal Preparation,
                 Liquefication and Gas-         Energy
                 ification Mission to Beijing,
                 Shanxi, and
                 Shanghai
July             Reverse Trade Mission to
                 SEMICON                        InfoTech
                 West
July             American Products Literature
                 Center at                      InfoTech
                 Shanghai Trade Show