*EPF409 10/12/00
Text: Commerce Department Completes 100th End Use Check in China
(Ensures that exports are only put to civilian use) (490)

The Commerce Department's Bureau of Export Administration (BXA) has completed its 100th end use check of American products exported to China, Secretary of Commerce Norman Y. Mineta said in an October 12 press release.

Calling it "a milestone achievement" in the Commerce Department's efforts to confirm that exports controlled for strategic reasons are being used only for civilian purposes, the release added that the BXA's end use checks were begun after President Clinton's June 1998 Beijing summit.

In an end-use check, the Commerce Department explained, a BXA representative visits end-users of U.S.-licensed items in China to confirm that the items are being used in accordance with the licenses for civilian purposes.

Most of the end-use checks were conducted on high-performance computers, the Commerce Department said.

Following is the text of the Commerce Department release:

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Bureau of Export Administration
U.S. Department of Commerce

For Immediate Release
October 11, 2000

U.S. Completes 100th End-Use Check in China

(Washington, DC) Secretary of Commerce Norman Y. Mineta today announced that the Department's Bureau of Export Administration (BXA) has completed its 100th end-use check of U.S. products exported to China - a milestone achievement in the Department's efforts to confirm that exports controlled for strategic reasons are being used only for civilian purposes. The checks were begun after President Clinton's June, 1998 summit in Beijing.

"Completion of our 100th check is a good sign of the cooperation that China and the United States have established. Such cooperation promotes the development of U.S. commercial trade with China, and ensures that U.S. businesses realize the greatest benefit from a Chinese civilian-based market while still protecting U.S. national security interests," Secretary Mineta said.

In an end-use check, a BXA representative visits end-users of U.S.-licensed items in China to confirm that the items are being used in accordance with the licenses for civilian purposes. Most of these checks were conducted on high-performance computers. The Commerce Department is working closely with its Chinese counterpart, the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation (MOFTEC), to complete remaining checks.

Commerce Assistant Secretary for Export Enforcement F. Amanda DeBusk noted the working relationship between MOFTEC and the U.S. Embassy in Beijing in achieving this milestone. "It was an arduous process to reach an agreement on conducting these checks - it took over 15 years and a number of Administrations. We believe that implementation of this agreement, and our relationship with China in these matters, is an on-going process that requires improvement. While there remains much to be done, MOFTEC and our representative in the American Embassy have cooperated well, and these checks have significantly advanced U.S. national security and trade interests."

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(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

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