White House elite attend Obama-Hu summit with bizmen

Topping the agenda of the summit between U.S. President Barack Obama and Chinese President Hu Jintao Wednesday was undoubtedly economic issues.

The two leaders held talks at the Oval Office from 10 a.m. Wednesday followed by an expanded summit at the Cabinet Room. They then moved to the Eisenhower Executive Office Building near the White House to meet top business leaders from both nations for 45 minutes.

At the meeting, Obama said that to create many jobs for Americans, the U.S. should increase exports to China and that Chinese companies should make far more investments in the U.S.

The event with business leaders from the two countries was organized by Washington to urge Chinese companies to invest more in the U.S. and attract Chinese enterprises, which enjoy growing global influence.

The meeting attracted the power elite from the White House including White House Chief of Staff William Daley, National Security Adviser Thomas Donilon, National Economic Council Director Gene Sperling, Deputy National Security Adviser for International Economic Affairs Michael Froman, and White House Senior Adviser Valerie Jarrett.

Attending from the executive branch were Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, who urged China to revalue the Chinese currency, and Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, who pressured Beijing to protect U.S. intellectual property rights and alleviate the trade imbalance between the two countries prior to Hu’s visit to Washington.

Also spotted was U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk, making the gathering look like a White House meeting of economy-related secretaries.

yhchoi65@donga.com