Last month owners and executives of 45 Chinese companies came to Los Angeles seeking partnerships with small to medium-size American companies to help broaden distribution in the U.S. for Chinese products and services.
The visitors met as many as 300 American businessmen at the China Global Conference, which was organized by the Asia Pacific-USA Chamber of Commerce of Pasadena, Calif.
More than 500 Chinese companies now have offices or operations in California. Manufacturers
in China receive 20 percent or less of the revenue from merchandise they export to the U.S.
market, according to Chinese government officials and economists who have testified to
Congress. American companies received 80 percent or more of the revenue.
China's direct investments in businesses and buildings in the U.S. are not huge, less than $10 billion, compared with the $252 billion that British companies invested or the $177 billion that Japanese companies poured in. (Source: James Flanigan, New York Times, Aug 20, 2007).