The US-China Business Council was founded in 1973 after President Richard Nixon's historic trip to China. This timeline explores US-China relations since 1973 and the organization's role in promoting commercial and economic relations between the two countries.

1. Focus: 40th ANNIVERSARY
Highlights from the US-China Business Council’s
40
June
1971
• United States ends
21-year trade embargo
with China.
September
• First US grain sale to
China.
October
• US firms attend Canton
Trade Fair in Guangdong
Year
History
• Inaugural meeting of
the National Council for
US-China Trade—which
changed its name to
the US-China Business
Council (USCBC) in
1988. Former Deputy
Representative to the
1979
for the first time. United Nations Christo-
1972
pher Phillips becomes
the council’s president
February 1973 and PRC leaders desig-
• The Boeing Co. signs nate the China Council
its first aircraft deal May for the Promotion of
with China. International Trade
• PRC liaison office
opens in Washington, (CCPIT) as the council’s
DC, and US liaison counterpart.
1973 office opens in Beijing.
1974 Unless otherwise indicated, all photos are from USCBC’s archives.
• Secretary of State President Jimmy Carter and former President
Henry Kissinger Richard Nixon with Vice Premier Deng Xiaoping,
delivers the keynote Washington, DC, January 1979 (official White
address at the council’s House photo).
first annual meeting.
1975 1976 1978
January March November
• Trade Act of 1974 • The council opens a • Coastal States Gas
takes effect, allowing Hong Kong office to Corp. signs an
the US government to facilitate travel and agreement to become
National Council for US-China Trade members meet grant China most- business for members the first US company
with Ambassador Han Hsu at the council’s inaugural favored-nation going to China. to import crude oil
meeting in Washington, DC, May 1973. (MFN) status. from China.
22 China Business Review January–March 2013

2. 1980
1979
• The council opens its
Beijing office.
January
• The United States
and China establish
diplomatic relations.
• PRC Vice Premier
Deng Xiaoping visits
the United States to
1979
meet with US President
Jimmy Carter. Deng Xiaoping Tours Ford Plant
• President Carter in Atlanta
Opening of first Chinese exhibition in the US under
hosts, and the council council auspices, San Francisco, September 1980. The first Ford Model T went on sale
sponsors, an event at
the Kennedy Center in China in 1913. At the time, few
with PRC Vice Premier manufactured goods were being exported
Deng following a state Shanghai, and China 1982
dinner at the White from the United States, but Ford Motor
opens consular offices
House. in Houston and San April Co. Founder Henry Ford and his business
• The council’s board Francisco. • The first US-China associate James Couzens wanted to “put
delegation meets with manufacturing joint- the world on wheels,” says Ford Corporate
Vice Premier Deng and January venture contract—
discusses trade with • United States awards between Foxboro Co., Historian Bob Kreipke.
Minister of Foreign MFN status to China an industrial controls
Trade Li Qiang. In 1923, the company invited 100
subject to annual manufacturer, and
renewal. Shanghai Instrument Chinese men to the company’s Highland
October Industry Co.—is Park plant in Michigan to learn how to
• First US-China joint- April approved.
repair and maintain the Model T. “Then
venture contract signed • China assumes seat • PRC Premier Zhao
to build the Great Wall in the International Ziyang and State the very next year, Sun Yat-sen [president
Hotel in Beijing. Monetary Fund and Councilor Gu Mu of the Republic of China] wrote a letter to
World Bank. meet with the
Henry Ford urging him to get involved in
council President
1980 Phillips and Board the development of China,” Kreipke says.
• United States Chair David Tappan.
1981 Through the council, Ford’s Shanghai sales branch closed in
establishes consulates
in Guangzhou and Zhao communicates 1948—shortly before US-China trade was
halted. But in 1978 Ford’s grandson met
with Deng Xiaoping, who served as China’s
paramount leader from 1978 to 1982, to
express interest in participating in China’s
auto industry. When Deng traveled to the
United States in 1979, he toured Ford’s
Atlanta assembly plant. That same year,
Ford sold 750 F-Series trucks to China.
Throughout the 1990s, the company set
up dealers, sponsored a research and
development fund, and opened auto
component joint ventures. Ford set up
a joint venture to develop a vehicle for
China in 1995. Now the company has
plans to introduce 15 new vehicle models
in China by 2015. And in November
Council board delegation to China meets with Vice Premier Bo Yibo at the Great
2012, the company reported a 56 percent
Hall of the People, Beijing, 1981.
increase in sales over the previous year.
January–March 2013 China Business Review 23

3. Focus: 40th ANNIVERSARY
1978
million cases of Coca-Cola. “China is a between the Nationalist-led Kuomintang
very important market for the company,” and the Chinese Communist Party. In 1942,
says Phil Mooney, the Coca-Cola Co.’s Y.T. Sun, the executive director of Coke
archivist and vice president of heritage bottler Watson’s Mineral Water Co., Inc. in
communications. “Historically, it’s Shanghai wrote in The Coca-Cola Bottler
one of the first markets we went into that the past year had been a great success.
internationally.” “We are standing on the threshold of a
1942 filled with confidence and ambition,
Before World War I, few people outside of
in spite of uncertainties existing in this part
the United States could buy Coca-Cola. That
of the world.”
changed when Robert Woodruff took over the
company in 1923 and began implementing Coke’s business on the mainland was halted
his vision of a global company, starting with in 1949 after the establishment of the PRC.
the creation of the Foreign Department in But in 1978, Coke was selected as the only
Coca-Cola Re-enters China 1926. Shortly after in 1927, Coca-Cola foreign company allowed to sell packaged
After Past Success entered China by establishing a partnership cold drinks in China. Since then, the
The Coca-Cola Co.
with two British mineral water firms that company has invested more than $5 billion,
In 1948, a year before Mao Zedong
were selling in China. employs 50,000 people, has 42 production
founded the People’s Republic of China,
facilities in China, and is planning $4 billion
Shanghai became the first city outside Coke’s early business in China managed
of investment over the next three years.
the United States to sell more than 1 to thrive while the country faced conflict
1992
that China hopes to of PRC President 1990
maintain trade with the Li Xiannian in
United States even if Washington, DC. December
political relations sour • China opens stock
over Taiwan. markets in Shanghai and
1986 Shenzhen, Guangdong.
1984 July
• China applies for 1991
January membership in the
• PRC Premier Zhao General Agreement May
Ziyang speaks at a on Tariffs and • The Office of the US
council luncheon in Trade (GATT), the Trade Representative
Washington. predecessor to begins investigating
the World Trade violations of US
November Organization (WTO). intellectual property
• 3M Co. sets up first US rights (IPR) in China. USCBC President Donald M. Anderson travels to China with US
wholly foreign-owned Secretary of Commerce Barbara Franklin and a delegation of
enterprise in China.
1989 June US business leaders, December 1992.
• USCBC leaders meet
June with PRC Premier Li
1985 • President George Peng, who expresses
H.W. Bush suspends concern over MFN • The United States lifts wholly foreign-owned
high-tech sanctions insurance business
March government-to- conditions for China.
imposed in 1991 in in China.
government sales,
• Sheraton Corp. takes response to Chinese
commercial export of
over management of
weapons, and official 1992 promises to abide by October
the Great Wall Hotel, the Missile Technology
visits between US and • Jinbei Automobile
becoming the first
PRC military leaders March Control Regime. becomes the first PRC
foreign hotel chain to
after the violence in • China accedes to company listed on
operate in China.
Tiananmen Square in the Nuclear Non- September the New York Stock
• Council co-hosts Beijing. Proliferation Treaty. • AIG, Inc. receives Exchange.
luncheon in honor license to operate first
24 China Business Review January–March 2013

4. 2004
1993 event for President 2004
Jiang in New York City.
March April
• Merrill Lynch & Co. • USCBC co-hosts dinner
opens representative
1998 for PRC Vice Premier
office in Shanghai, Wu Yi and Chinese
becoming the first June delegation to the US-
US securities firm to • President Clinton visits China Joint Commission
operate in China. China to sign agreements on Commerce and
on US high-tech exports Trade (JCCT).
and other issues,
1994 including initiatives
on infrastructure
2006
development.
January
• China unifies its
currency, eliminating
July
Foreign Exchange • US Congress votes to
Chinese Vice Premier Wu Yi and former Secretary of
Certificates. change references to
State Madeleine Albright, April 2004.
“most favored nation”
in US law to “normal
July trade relations.”
• New PRC Foreign
Trade Law takes 1996 1997
effect. The law 1999
regulates cross- July • USCBC opens its
Shanghai office.
border transactions • China’s currency April
of goods, technology, becomes convertible on • PRC Premier Zhu Rongji
and services, and current account. October visits Washington to
addresses the roles of • At a Washington, DC, discuss China’s WTO
Hu Jintao and Henry
government officials, summit, PRC President accession. USCBC co- Kissinger at a dinner
foreign and domestic Jiang Zemin and US hosts welcome dinner in hosted by USCBC, 2006.
companies, state- President Bill Clinton New York.
owned entities, and agree to take steps to
trade associations. initiate civilian nuclear
trade. USCBC co-hosts
November
• United States and China
1998 sign agreement on the
2006
terms of China’s WTO
accession in Beijing. April
• USCBC co-hosts
dinner honoring PRC
2000 President Hu Jintao,
who delivers an address
October on bilateral relations, in
• President Bill Clinton Washington, DC.
signs into law the US-
China Relations Act September
of 2000, which grants • President George
permanent normal trade W. Bush and PRC
relations to China. President Hu Jintao
agree to create the
semi-annual US-China
2001 Strategic Economic
Dialogue (SED), a
December high-level meeting to
• China formally accedes address the economic
to the WTO. challenges facing both
countries.
2003 November
• USCBC President John
December Frisbie and a delegation
• USCBC hosts reception of board members
and dinner for PRC meet with senior PRC
US Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin, USCBC President Robert Kapp, and CCPIT Chair Premier Wen Jiabao in officials, including
Washington, DC. Premier Wen Jiabao,
Yu Xiaosong at USCBC’s 25th Anniversary Gala, Washington, DC, June 1998.
Foreign Affairs Minister
January–March 2013 China Business Review 25

5. Focus: 40th ANNIVERSARY
2009
Li Zhaoxing, and 2009
other officials.
• China overtakes the
United States to
2007 become the world’s
largest auto market.
• China overtakes Japan
as the United States’ April
third-largest export • President Barack
market. Obama and PRC
President Hu Jintao
May rename the US-China
• USCBC co-hosts dinner SED the US-China
honoring PRC Vice Strategic and
Premier Wu Yi and the Economic Dialogue
delegation to the SED (S&ED), which is
in Washington, DC. broadened to include
global strategic and
security issues.
2008
Chinese State Councilor Dai Bingguo, Chinese Vice Premier Wang Qishan, and
July
August • USCBC co-hosts dinner
President Barack Obama in July 2009 at the White House (official White House photo).
• China’s Antimonopoly honoring PRC Vice
Law, which established Premier Wang Qishan,
the guidelines State Councilor Dai September December 2011
for China’s first Bingguo, and the • USCBC co-hosts dinner • USCBC co-hosts • US exports to China
comprehensive antitrust delegation to the S&ED honoring PRC Premier reception for US exceed $100 billion for
policy, takes effect. in Washington, DC. Wen Jiabao and the and PRC delegations the first time.
ministerial delegation to to the JCCT and
September the United Nations in dinner for PRC Vice
• China becomes largest
2010 personal computer
• USCBC co-hosts New York. Premier Wang Qishan,
market.
luncheon honoring PRC Minister of Commerce
Premier Wen Jiabao August Chen Deming, and
and the ministerial • China surpasses Japan other senior Chinese
2009
delegation to the United as the world’s second- delegation members, in
Nations in New York. largest economy. Washington, DC.
China Becomes General Motors’ Sun Yat-sen rides in a Buick
Largest Market in the early 20th century.
General Motors Co.’s business in China
dates back to 1922, when the company’s
branch in Manila, Philippines moved
to Shanghai. General Motors China
Inc. began operations in 1929, with its
head office in Shanghai and a branch in
Shenyang, Liaoning.
GM’s vehicles were the “car of choice” for
China’s founding father and nationalist
But Buick wasn’t the only GM vehicle that manufacture 40 different models under
leader Sun Yat-sen, Premier Zhou Enlai,
offered in China at the time. Chevrolets seven brands. In 2009, China surpassed
and China’s last emperor Puyi, according
served as personal transportation, taxis, the United States to become the company’s
to GM China’s Dayna Hart. “In the 1930s,
buses, and ambulances as far back as the largest market. By the end of November
Buick was one of the most popular vehicle
General Motors Co.
1920s. When GM reentered China in 1997, 2012, GM and its joint-venture partners
brands in China,” Hart says. “It was said
it only sold one model of Buick. Today, the had sold nearly 2.6 million vehicles, higher
that one in six vehicles on Shanghai’s
company has 12 joint ventures in China than total 2011 sales.
roads was a Buick.”
26 China Business Review January–March 2013

6. 2010
2012
PepsiCo Partnership Becomes
Stephen A. Orlins, president of the National Committee on US-China Relations;
muhtar kent, president and CEO of the Coca-Cola Co.; Premier Wen jiabao;
Largest Beverage Venture in China
the Honorable Carla A. Hills, chair and CEO of Hills & Co.; and John Frisbie, PepsiCo entered China in 1981 when it
president of USCBC, at a reception honoring Wen in New York in September 2010.
opened its first bottling plant in Shenzhen,
Guangdong. As China’s beverage market
has grown—PepsiCo estimates that China
January Xi meets with US Vice November
President Joe Biden will be the world’s largest beverage market
• PRC President Hu • Xi Jinping takes over as
and speaks to business
Jintao visits the United the Chinese Communist in 2015—the company has worked to
and policy leaders at a
States, where he meets Party’s general secretary
luncheon co-hosted by expand its footprint in the country.
with US President and chair of the Central
USCBC. Xi also visits
Barack Obama and Military Commission, In 2012, PepsiCo announced that it had
Iowa and California.
delivers a speech at a and is expected to
luncheon co-hosted by become president in teamed up with Tingyi Holding Corp.
USCBC.
May 2013. Under the agreement, Tingyi’s beverage
• At the S&ED, China
says it will raise subsidiary, Tingyi-Asahi Beverages Holding
2012 ownership caps for Co. Ltd., became PepsiCo’s franchise
foreign investors in
bottler, making Tingyi-PepsiCo the largest
February securities joint-ventures
beverage venture in China with a national
to 49 percent from 33
• PRC Vice President
percent. distribution network and more than 70
Xi Jinping visits the
United States. During manufacturing plants.
his time in Washington,
But PepsiCo’s business in China isn’t
2012
only about beverages. In 1993, the
company entered China’s food market
when it introduced Lay’s potato chips.
PepsiCo says that 40 percent of Chinese
households have tried Lay’s products.
The company has invested in developing
tastes for the Chinese palate, and
it recently opened a research and
development center in China, its largest
outside of North America, to develop
products for China and other countries in
Asia. Some of the flavors unique to the
China market include Lay’s cucumber, hot
and sour fish soup, and numb and spicy
hotpot flavor potato chips. The company’s
Sadari.com, PepsiCo
oatmeal brand, Quaker Oats, offers quick-
cooking congee with Chinese medicinal
PRC Vice President Xi Jinping and Vice President Joe Biden at the CEO roundtable ingredients, such as wolfberry, white
co-sponsored by USCBC in Washington, DC, February 2012.
fungus, and red dates.
January–March 2013 China Business Review 27