Reply #54: US CEOs meet with China president

[xchrom]

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_APEC_US_CHINA?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2011-11-12-00-27-51

HONOLULU (AP) -- A small group of executives from some of the largest U.S. companies met privately with Chinese President Hu Jintao on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation CEO Summit to discuss trade, protecting intellectual property rights and challenges facing the world's two largest economies.

The meeting late Thursday included heads of 14 companies, including Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt, Johnson & Johnson Chairman and CEO William Weldon, Eli Lily and Co. Chairman, President and CEO John Lechleiter, Walmart Asia President and CEO Scott Price and Dow Chemical Co. Asia Pacific President Pat Dawson.

The group raised various issues with Hu, who was in Hawaii to attend the annual summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum.

"Certainly the economic giants, China and the United States, will be competing with each other for many, many years to come. We need to find a way to do that within the parameters of the international trading schemes," said Doug Oberhelman, chairman and CEO of Caterpillar, who participated. "And if we do that, the pie will get bigger and I think and that was one of his key messages."