BALDRIGE ASSURES CHINA ON TRADE AND TECHNOLOGY
U.S. Commerce Secretary Malcolm Baldrige
said U.S. Sales of high technology to China are rising despite
Peking's complaints they are being restricted.
    He told reporters at the airport on arriving here for talks
that technology transfers to China had increased every year and
would continue to do so.
    The official Peking Review yesterday accused the United
States of delaying approval on high-technology sales to China.
    Last year, Washington approved only 60 pct of the exports
China applied for, the magazine said.
    "The COCOM-listed kind of export controls are just a
fraction of the technology that the U.S. Is transferring (to
China) by other means, such as joint ventures," Baldrige said.
    COCOM is the Western coordinating committee formed after
World War Two to limit the export of advanced technology to
Communist nations.
    Baldrige said he was sure U.S. Firms could compete against
firms from other countries for high technology sales.
    He added that protectionism would hurt the economies of
trading nations and said the Reagan Administration would fight
protectionist legislation in the U.S. Congress.
    Baldrige and China's Foreign Trade Minister Zheng Tuobin
will act as chairmen of the fifth session of a commission on
commerce and trade that will review bilateral trade relations.
    A U.S. Official said other issues to be raised during
Baldrige's talks are trade deficits, which each country says it
has with the other, and the problems facing U.S. Companies
investing in China.
 Reuter
