Chinese Companies Step Up Washington Lobbying
On the eve of Chinese President Ju Jintao's official visit to Washington this week, American companies stepped up pressure on the U.S. government to deal with Chinese currency deflation issues, trade imbalances and alleged mass intellectual property theft.
On the other side of the Pacific, meanwhile, Chinese companies had already been ramping up their own lobbying of Washington lawmakers and officials in an effort to improve their lot in American markets, according to a new report.
The Sunlight Foundation stated in a recent report that spending on Washington lobbying firms by Chinese companies nearly doubled between 2005 and 2010, putting China's businesses "into the highest levels of spending by foreign companies registering" under the Lobbying Disclosure Act (LDA).
Four Chinese companies alone spent $425,000 to contract with registered lobbyists in 2010, the Sunlight Foundation reports. In comparison, Chinese companies in 2005 spent about $290,000 overall on lobbying.
While the 2010 figure dwarfs in comparison to the estimated $2.6 billion spent overall on lobbying in 2010, it is an indication that Chinese companies are starting to see how American companies gain advantages in the marketplace.
Huawei Tech., a telecommunications firm, dominated lobbying spending in Washington in 2010 from China, spending $350,000 in the second half of the year, Sunlight Foundation reports. Huawei Tech. is attempting to overcome concerns that it is connected to the Chinese military as it tries to secure an equipment supplies contract with Sprint Nextel.
Another Chinese firm beginning to lobby Congress is the search engine Baidu, reports LegalTimes. While they were not listed under the LDA in 2010, Baidu hired Washington law firm Sidney Austin to lobby on their behalf in an attempt to influence Congress' 2011 Special 301 report, LegalTimes reports. The 301 Report looks at unfair international trade practices, and in 2010 it singled out Baidu as being responsible for "the vast majority of all illegal downloads of music in China."
There is also a more subtle form of lobbying from China and its businesses going on in Washington that does not require filing under the LDA, reports the Washington Post. Lawmakers are becoming more reticent to publicly attack the China as they realize the economic importance of maintaining good ties.
"People in Congress are not stupid," Minxin Pei, a professor of politics at Claremont McKenna College, told the Post. "A few years ago, China-bashing was costless. Now they will get phone calls from worried CEOs. China is creating jobs in their congressional districts."