Trump’s China visit yields several deals

President Donald J. Trump’s visit to China resulted in several chemical-related deals, many of them tentative, between Chinese and U.S. companies. The most ambitious deal was the most vague: China Energy Investment’s plan to invest $84 billion in shale gas development and chemical manufacturing projects in West Virginia. Separately, the new company American Ethane signed an agreement to supply $26 billion worth of Gulf Coast ethane over 20 years to feed a petrochemical complex that Nanshan Group plans to build in China. Among more tangible deals, Air Products & Chemicals agreed to invest in a $3.5 billion Chinese coal gasification venture, and Thermo Fisher Scientific signed memorandums of understanding with three Chinese entities to supply $35 million worth of scientific instruments over the coming year for medical research. Dow Chemical agreed to collaborate with Mobike, one of China’s largest bike-sharing companies, to develop lighter and more environmentally friendly bicycles.