China's President Xi Jinping begins first US visit in Seattle

Chinese president Xi Jinping landed in Seattle on Tuesday to kick off a weeklong US visit that will include meetings with US business leaders, a black-tie state dinner at the White House hosted by President Barack Obama and an address at the United Nations. Xi and his wife touched down in an Air China 747 at Paine Field, adjacent to the massive plant where Boeing Co makes its largest jets, some 25 miles (40 km) north of Seattle. They were welcomed by Washington state governor Jay Inslee. In downtown Seattle, about 100 people – both for and against Xi’s presence – gathered peacefully outside the Westin hotel. Protesters representing Falun Gong, a religious group that says it is repressed in China, held placards, while well-wishers waved Chinese and US flags and large red cloth signs that read “Hello President Xi” in Chinese characters. Xi Jinping: Does China truly love 'Big Daddy Xi' – or fear him? Read more Xi is due to make a policy speech at a banquet at the hotel in the evening in the company of Microsoft Corp co-founder Bill Gates, the chief executives of Boeing Co and Starbucks Corp and other local luminaries. The Chinese leader’s visit to Seattle, which he called “America’s gateway to Asia” in prepared remarks upon his arrival, comes at a delicate time in US-China relations. US government and business leaders aim to strike a balance between forging agreements and improving relations with the world’s second-largest economy, while sending strong messages about allegations of Chinese cyberspying and intellectual property violations as well as internet censorship and China’s disputed territorial claims to islands in the South China Sea. The audio long read What’s behind Beijing’s drive to control the South China Sea? – Podcast China's startling attempt to assert control over vast waters has alarmed nearby countries and escalated tensions with the US. Howard W French reports from Hainan, the island at the heart of Xi Jinping's expansionist ambitions Listen For the Chinese side, Xi’s meetings with Obama and US business leaders offer the chance to bolster the president’s stature at home, building on a high-profile military parade earlier this month to mark the end of the second world war, while deflecting attention from the country’s recent stock market rout, slowing economy and chemical explosions at a Tianjin warehouse that killed over 160 people. The Chinese president is due to tour Boeing’s widebody plant and the nearby Microsoft campus on Wednesday, and will later meet Warren Buffett, Apple Inc chief executive Tim Cook and Amazon.com head Jeff Bezos, among 30 US and Chinese business leaders at a roundtable discussion. US tech companies are seeking to expand access to the Chinese consumer market. Even if no formal agreements are reached, the presidential blessing “sends an important message to Chinese leadership” to help them, said Ed Lazowska, Bill and Melinda Gates chair of computer science at the University of Washington. No policy breakthroughs are likely during Xi’s US trip, which ends with a speech at the United Nations General Assembly in New York on 28 September. In comments published in the Wall Street Journal before his arrival, Xi said China’s government does not engage in theft of commercial secrets or support companies that do. “I know that we, like others, will be looking for evidence that the Chinese government is pursuing policies based on those principles,” assistant secretary of state Daniel Russel, the Obama’s administration’s top Asia diplomat, told reporters at a pre-summit briefing. Xi also said China’s economy faces downward pressure but is still operating within a proper range, adding exchange rate reform will continue and there was no basis for sustained depreciation in the yuan. The United States will urge Xi to avoid “quick fixes” for its economy, such as devaluing its currency to boost exports, White House chief economist Jason Furman told Reuters on Tuesday. China’s recent loosening of controls on the yuan currency “caused turmoil” in global financial markets and US officials plan to raise the issue of China’s volatile stock market, Furman said. Xi Jinping says China is not guilty of cyber attacks as he prepares for US visit Read more For Boeing, the visit could bring a formal announcement of plans for an aircraft finishing plant in China. The plant would help Boeing’s Chinese sales, analysts say, and help counter a threat from Commercial Aircraft Corp of China Ltd , which is developing a single-aisle aircraft to challenge the top-selling Boeing 737 and Airbus A320 planes. Xi and Ray Conner, Boeing Commercial Airplanes chief executive, are due on Wednesday to tour the Everett, Washington, factory where Boeing makes widebody planes such as the 777 and 787 Dreamliner. Airbus opened an assembly line in China in 2008 and recently won a landmark, $11bn order from China. Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg said on Tuesday he sees scope for additional 737 work going to China as the company continues to increase production rates of the single-aisle jetliner. source: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/22/china-president-xi-jinping-first-us-visit-seattle