FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Wednesday, December 13, 2006

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U.S. COMMERCE SECRETARY CARLOS M. GUTIERREZ WITNESSES CONTRACT SIGNINGS BETWEEN U.S. AND CHINESE COMPANIES

Agreements Build Upon Gutierrez
November 2006 Trade Mission

Beijing, China - U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos M. Gutierrez today presided over the signing of contracts that represent expanded access to China's market. Companies signing contracts with their Chinese counterparts are The Home Depot, Oshkosh Truck Corporation, VeriSign, and GE Aviation with a deal valued at more than a half-billion dollars. This commercial cooperation highlights the strengthening economic relationship between the U.S. and China. The new deals support jobs in the U.S. and further increase U.S. exports to China which are up 34 percent this year.

"Five years ago China entered the WTO putting itself on the path to economic reform and open markets. With today's agreements, the top quality brands of The Home Depot, Oshkosh, VersiSign and GE will soon be recognized from Main Street U.S.A to mainland China," said Gutierrez.

"As a leader in the global economy, China needs to do more to open its markets, protect intellectual property and implement economic reforms," added Gutierrez. "Our economic relationship will be strengthened by market forces that foster competition and adherence to the rule of law."

The signings build upon last month's trade mission that Secretary Gutierrez led to China with 25 American companies exploring new commercial opportunities. Three members of the trade mission--The Home Depot, Oshkosh Truck Corporation and VeriSign--are among the companies signing agreements.

Today's signings include the following company information:

•  The Home Depot's acquisition of The Home Way will bring the world's leading home improvement merchandising and store operations capability to China with 12 stores in six cities. Chinese consumers will have more access to a wide range of exciting American home improvement products due to this acquisition.

•  Oshkosh Truck Corporation and Quzhou Airport signed an agreement for the sale of an airport rescue and firefighting truck made entirely with U.S. export content. The vehicle will provide state-of-the-art fire protection to help protect passengers and aircraft, as traffic increases at this major Chinese airport. Oshkosh has been delivering fire fighting vehicles to China since 1982.

•  VeriSign and MII & China Netcom announced the launch of a new Internet resolution site that will allow VeriSign to deploy a new global Domain Name Service internet constellation site in China. The site will help improve the response time and reliability of the internet for users in China. The launch of the site demonstrates how U.S. technology companies can successfully partner with the Chinese government and Chinese IT industry to bring the benefits of the internet to Chinese users. The value of this announcement reflects VeriSign's commitment to continually strengthen the infrastructure that hundreds of millions of internet users rely on everyday for commerce and communications.

•  GE Aviation and Shanghai Airlines signed an agreement valued at $550 million for the purchase of aircraft engines to power their Boeing 787-Dreamliner aircraft. The contract also includes a long-term service agreement for parts and maintenance. GE engines were also selected by three additional airlines this year to power Boeing aircraft.