U.S., China announce progress on trade, IPR

U.S., China announce progress on trade, IPR    President Barack Obama announced $45 billion worth of export deals with China on the first full day of Chinese President Hu's visit to Washington.
   The two leaders met with top U.S. business leaders and discussed a range of national security, trade and human rights issues that test the relationship between the two world superpowers.
   Obama touted the dozens of deals between U.S. firms and China as evidence that China is a growing market for the United States despite criticism that the United States runs a trade deficit with China, which often makes it difficult for U.S. companies to operate there. He said the contracts support about 235,000 U.S. jobs.
   Among the products bought by China are machinery, software, foodstuffs and orders for 200 Boeing aircraft worth $19 billion.
   U.S. exports to China have grown 30 percent in the last 10 months, twice as fast as exports to the rest of the world.
   The United States now exports more than $100 billion per year in goods and services to China.
   President Hu agreed that China would not discriminate against U.S. companies that compete for Chinese government procurement contracts and to take new steps to combat the theft of intellectual property, Obama said during a press conference.
   In a joint statement, China said it would conduct audits to ensure that government agencies at all levels use legitimate software and publish the audit results as required by Chinese law.
   Microsoft, for example, says nine out of 10 software applications sold in China are ripped off from its copyrighted versions.
   China also said in the statement that it no longer will link its innovation policies to the provision of government procurement preferences, opening access to foreign suppliers.
   'China's pledge to separate its innovation and government procurement policies is new and potentially significant,' the U.S.-China Business Council said in a statement. 'This was one of USCBC's top advocacy priorities for President Hu's visit. The use of market-distorting government purchase preferences to foster innovation is counter to international best practices and has tilted the playing field against foreign companies. We look forward to learning more about how this pledge will be implemented.' ' Eric Kulisch