BEIJING -- As U.S. and Chinese officials negotiated yesterday to avert a trade-war tomorrow, another U.S. delegation was putting the finishing touches on $6 billion in new business deals.
Officials were quick to point out that the two U.S. delegations -- one led by Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky and the other by Energy Secretary Hazel R. O'Leary -- were in town at the same time only by chance.
But both show the trouble the Clinton administration has in dealing with China -- and the opportunities and difficulties facing U.S. businesses in the world's most populous country.
Washington has promised to impose more than $1 billion in sanctions as of tomorrow if China does not agree to stop the wholesale pirating of U.S. products, such as compact disks and computer programs.
Chinese officials said yesterday that they were hopeful of a settlement, while Ms. Barshefsky described progress as "incremental."
Chinese officials insisted that they were serious about cracking down on pirated goods. State-controlled television reported that two people had been executed for running a factory that made pirated products, but gave no more information.
Ms. O'Leary's visit had been planned 19 months ago as part of President Clinton's policy of "comprehensive engagement," an attempt to use expanded business and defense contacts to improve China's human rights record.
Ms. O'Leary's delegation had the status of a presidential mission, allowing her to bring up other topics of concern to the United States. She brought up the issue of human rights, but declined to describe the outcome of those talks.
Ms. O'Leary arrived with representatives from 58 energy and financial companies, including Amoco, Westinghouse Electric Corp. and Merrill Lynch. China, which has acute electricity shortages, plans to add 100,000 megawatts of power-generating capacity by the year 2000. It must raise roughly $100 billion to pay for new power stations.
Of the $6 billion in tentative new contracts, the American companies said that slightly more than $4 billion will be spent in the United States.
The other $2 billion would pay for work performed in China, or investments made here by U.S. companies. But few of the new contracts have been signed -- and thus the final worth of the agreements could be substantially lower.
Ms. O'Leary's talks failed to remove barriers that some companies face, including a threatened limit on foreign investors' profits.