Obama, Xi to test limits of personal ties on cyber disputes

Xi later visited Microsoft’s campus in Seattle where he was greeted by cofounder Bill Gates, CEO Satya Nadella and other top executives.

U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker noted when she met Xi on Tuesday that the USA government and companies have “serious concerns” about “the lack of a level playing field across a range of sectors”.

Chinese President Xi Jinping is in the middle of his first state visit to the United States this week.

Earlier on Wednesday, it was announced that Chinese companies have agreed to buy 300 jets from Boeing. Nicknamed “The Emerald City”, Seattle hosted Chinese leaders Deng Xiaoping, Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao over the past several decades.

Noting there are new opportunities facing the two countries, the president called for deepening China-U.S. trade cooperation, which will greatly contribute to their development and the world’s prosperity.

As the world’s two largest economies are expected to sign a BIT soon, the deal is expected to accelerate China’s economic and trade reforms and to draw foreign funds into the Chinese market to stimulate economic momentum.

An agreement with China could open more of its massive market to USA companies, provide clearer rules for Chinese investment in the US and create jobs in both countries, supporters say.

Even as the White House rolled out the red carpet for Xi, behind the pomp and pageantry were tensions over a litany of issues, including Beijing’s economic policies, territorial disputes with its neighbors and China’s human rights record.

A few hours after, Boeing Co BA.N announced plans for an aircraft finishing centre in China, its first outside the United States. Obama and Xi hope their commitment will prompt other countries to make similarly strong pledges to combat climate change in advance of an global climate summit in Paris later this year.

With his feel-good tours of Boeing, Microsoft and a local high school complete, Chinese President Xi Jinping departs Washington state Thursday for the other Washington, where tougher discussions on cybersecurity, intellectual property protections and human rights await.

“Through all the downturns that we’ve had, through the SARS epidemic, through the recessions, China has always been a reliable customer to order Boeing airplanes”.

Boeing said the China facility would not reduce employment on 737 production in Washington state.

On Tuesday, Xi touched on a litany of issues that have seriously frayed U.S.-China ties, promising that China would not manipulate its currency to boost exports, nor engage in cyber theft and that it would speed up the opening of its market.

The Obama administration has accused China of cyber espionage on the USA government and on private United States companies. That uncertainty, sharpened by the rapid creation of new islands that could serve as military bases, is prompting U.S. policymakers “to hedge in the direction of deterrence”, says Dr. Swaine.

“Given the economic and financial situation at home and overseas, there is no basis for continuous depreciation of the RMB”, Xi stressed.

After National Security Adviser Susan Rice sharply warned Beijing about its actions during a visit to lay the groundwork for Xi’s trip, China dispatched its top domestic security official to Washington to try to stave off sanctions ahead of the president’s arrival.

Mr Xi, speaking through a translator, called on the USA and China to be “broadminded about differences and disagreements”.

Seeking to warm bilateral ties and project a sunny climate for USA business, Chinese President Xi Jinping vowed Wednesday to cut restrictions on foreign investment, while his chief Internet regulator appeared to lay the groundwork for a basic agreement later this week on cyberwarfare.

“At any one time we are cooperating and competing”, said one senior administration official, who asked not to be named.

During the dinner, Xi was toasted by former US Ambassador to China, Gary Locke.