Forty-six U.S. business executives to visit China

Forty-six U.S. business executives will join U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke in China and Indonesia May 15-25 on the first cabinet-level trade mission of the Obama Administration, the Commerce Department said on Tuesday.

On the heels of President Obama's new National Export Initiative, aimed at doubling U.S. exports in the next five years, Locke will lead American companies on this clean energy mission to advance their export opportunities and support American jobs, said the Commerce.

Twenty-four U.S. companies will join Locke for the China portion of the trade mission, and 10 U.S. companies will travel to Indonesia. The delegation will make stops in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing, and Jakarta.

The Commerce said the mission aims to promote exports of leading U.S. technologies related to clean energy; energy efficiency; and electric energy storage, transmission, and distribution.

＂America's economic future will depend on how well it competes to meet the rising global demand for clean energy in the 21st century; the business leaders joining me on this trade mission understand the urgency of that global competition,＂ Locke said in a statement.

＂China and Indonesia represent tremendous potential markets for U.S. companies ready to compete in the clean energy and energy efficiency sectors,＂ he added.