US to seek ‘good faith’ agreements with China

U.S. President Donald Trump will seek “tangible” agreements on trade with China when he visits the country next month, but results on key issues such as market access may take longer, U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said Wednesday.

The United States is seeking “immediate” results, like the deals American companies GE and Boeing Co. struck in Saudi Arabia in May, as “a sign of good faith,” Ross said. But, speaking at the Paley International Council Summit in New York, he acknowledged that market access, intellectual property rights and tariffs are more complex and will take a longer time to negotiate.

S.F. in deal to help modernize military logistics

THE government has signed a deal with Shenzhen-listed S.F. Holding to help modernize the logistics network of the country’s air force, the express delivery company said Wednesday.

Privately owned S.F. Holding, whose subsidiary S.F. Express is often called China’s answer to FedEx Corp., said on its official WeChat account the agreement with the People’s Liberation Army was part of a wider plan to improve integration between China’s civilian and military sectors. Last year, the government set up a new logistics support force to better support military operations.

McDonald’s gets new China name

U.S. fast food giant McDonald’s Corp. is getting a name change in China — at least on paper.

The firm will change its registered business name to “Golden Arches (China) Co.,” a spokeswoman confirmed Thursday, adding though that its brand name in China — a transliteration of McDonald’s — would be unchanged. The shift comes after the chain agreed earlier in the year to sell most of its Chinese mainland and Hong Kong business to CITIC Ltd. and Carlyle Group.

Wanxiang founder Lu Guanqiu dies at 72

LU GUANQIU, Wanxiang Group’s founder and board chairman, died Wednesday at age 72, Xinhua reported Thursday.

Lu was one of China’s most successful business pioneers to emerge during the country’s reform and opening-up, but the report didn’t give a cause of his death. In July, 1969, Lu and other six farmers, with 4,000 yuan (US$600), established an agricultural machinery plant. The plant now has become a transnational corporation with revenue of more than 100 billion yuan and businesses covering manufacturing, energy, finance, agriculture and resources, Xinhua said.