Sino-US deals big result of Trump's trip, says economist

Xu Sitao, chief economist at Deloitte China [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Deals signed between Chinese and US companies will be one of the major achievements of US President Donald Trump's visit to China, Xu Sitao, chief economist at Deloitte China, said.

"As a businessman-turned president, Trump has on many occasions talked about 'quick wins'. The numbers of large deals signed between Chinese and US companies have underscored such 'quick wins'," Xu told China Daily Website in a phone interview on Thursday.

Chinese and US companies sealed 19 agreements valued at about $9 billion on Wednesday covering areas such as energy, food and transport.

On Thursday, 15 cooperation documents worth more than $250 billion were signed at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.

Xu believes that deals signed between Chinese and US companies will not only benefit the enterprises but bring real good to people.

A deal struck in the medical sector, for instance, not only does good to the US company, but also means better access to quality medical services for the Chinese consumers, he said.

An earlier report from CNBC showed that among the business executives accompanying Trump's visit to China, a majority are in the energy and manufacturing sectors.

"The Chinese government strongly supports clean energy. The country is unlikely to repeat the old path of developed countries in energy development. Therefore, the potentials for cooperation between the two countries in clean energy are huge," said Xu.

The latest data from Bloomberg showed that during the first three quarters of the year, global investment in clean energy totaled $182.9 billion, up 2 percent year-on-year. Clean energy investment in China amounted to $68 billion, accounting for 37 percent globally and ranking first in the world for five consecutive years.

Xu has positive views about cooperation in the medical and pharmaceutical sector.

"China has unmet demand for quality medical and pharmaceutical services. This implies a huge market for US companies," he said.

Another area which holds great potential for cooperation is financial services, Xu said.

The government has made pledges to further open the financial market, which has sent positive policy signals to the international market.

"If China can make bigger strides in relaxing market access for financial services companies, it will get active response from the US and European nations," he said.

Talking about innovation, Xu said that the US' strengths in innovation are indispensable with its fully fledged capital market, free atmosphere for innovation, quality science and engineering education, and the mobility of the labor market.

Chinese businessmen share the same adventurous entrepreneurial spirit as their US counterparts, said Xu.

In terms of innovation, China has strengths in human resources and basic science and natural science education and boasts many unicorns on par with the US ones, he added.

There is room for China to further leverage the role of the capital market in allocating resources to stimulate innovation, Xu said.