Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Non-Tech : The Critical Investing Workshop -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Cosmo Daisey who wrote (11344)	4/6/2000 2:05:00 PM
From: Jenne	Respond to of 35685

U.S. Pushes China on CDMA Mobile Technology BEIJING (Reuters) - U.S. Commerce Secretary William Daley said he won a pledge from Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji on Thursday to try to kick-start the stalled rollout of CDMA mobile phone technology in China. Daley raised the issue during broader talks with Chinese leaders aimed at underscoring White House determination to push through key trade legislation that supports Beijing's entry to the World Trade Organization. China agreed last year to roll out networks using CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) cellular standard, which was pioneered by U.S. company Qualcomm Inc But the plans were held up by industry regulators in Beijing just days after Qualcomm reached a patent licensing agreement with Chinese negotiators. Speak your mind Discuss this story with other people. [Start a Conversation] (Requires Yahoo! Messenger) Zhu last month blamed the holdup on bureaucratic snags, saying the main phone company with plans to use CDMA had failed to coordinate with the Ministry of Information Industry before it began accepting contract bids by foreign equipment vendors. ``Zhu promised that he would encourage the ministry to move forward,' Daley told reporters. Qualcomm would earn licensing royalties from a CDMA rollout, while North American telecommunications manufactures such as Motorola Corp, Lucent Technologies Inc and Nortel Networks Corp could win meaty contracts. Daley said some people believe China is stalling the rollout to give domestic firms a chance to catch up on the technology and compete for contracts. Mutual Support For Trade Pact Daley also met President Jiang Zemin on Thursday, and Daley said he was confident Congress would vote to grant China Permanent Normal Trade Relations (NTR). Congress cannot block China's WTO entry, but without granting Beijing permanent NTR the United States would not be able to reap lower Chinese tariffs and other trade and investment concessions. Passage is virtually assured in the Senate, but the House of Representatives vote, scheduled for the week of May 22-26, is expected to be tight. President Clinton is pushing hard for its passage, but many members of his Democratic party are siding with labor unions which believe free trade with China kills American jobs. ``We are very positive about the prospects of passing WTO,' Daley told reporters. Zhu and Jiang showed a solid understanding of the political minefield the issue has become in Congress, he said. ``I caution everyone that there will be lots of comments made over the next few months -- charges, allegations, hysteria going on as this heats up,' he said. Jiang told Daley normal trade relations are ``in the interest of both China and the U.S.,' Xinhua news agency said. ``China will as always, make an active contribution to the healthy development of the world's economy and trade,' Xinhua quoted Jiang as saying.