SEATTLE (AP) – When Chinese President Xi Jinping arrives in Seattle on his way to Washington, D.C., this week, he’ll be visiting the American state that exports more to his country than any other.
Washington last year sent more than $20 billion in airplanes, wheat, apples and other products to China. Redmond-based Microsoft, Seattle-based Amazon.com and Boeing, with deep roots in the state, are among the companies lining up to capitalize on the president’s visit, focusing on the country’s long-term potential at a time when its economy is troubled.
Xi’s three-day stay, beginning Tuesday, also carries with it an opportunity for him to use the sight of major American companies, from Apple to General Motors, to send a reassuring message home: China is still very much a much sought-after market.
“One of the reasons he’s talking to the high-tech executives is not necessarily for business purposes here, but to convey back to the Chinese audience that, see, Western firms – the biggest Western firms – are still anxious to do business with us,” said David Bachman, a University of Washington professor and former chair of its China Studies Program.
“He’s trying to exude a sense of confidence at a time when some of that self-confidence about China’s economic future has been dissipated,” he said.