From a high-tech satellite factory to a power lunch in Beverly Hills, Chinese President Jiang Zemin cheerfully promoted trans-Pacific commerce in California on Sunday, despite some noisy protests and a pointed warning from his host, Gov. Pete Wilson, that "the great elixir of individual freedom" is the best recipe for economic growth.

As Jiang wound up his weeklong visit to the United States with a stop in a state that accounts for more than a quarter of all American exports to China, he sat in the passenger seat of a Buick Regal - the type that is to be built in China starting next year - and then met privately with the governor before gently pleading with business and political leaders for patience in resolving differences and improving ties."As the old Chinese saying goes, a 10,000-mile journey begins with the first step," Jiang told an audience of some 700 people, including former Secretary of State Warren Christopher; Peter O'Malley, the owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers; Rupert Murdoch (who is in the process of buying the Dodgers) and other corporate chieftains; and Mayor Richard Riordan of Los Angeles.

A similar number of protesters gathered outside the Beverly Hilton, burning Chinese flags and waving placards with slogans like "Communism Kills," "Give Jiang a Heart," and "China Most Favored Oppressor." The demonstrators drew honks of support from passing motorists.

Wilson, who visited China on a trade mission last winter, invoked the memory of the Chinese laborers who toiled on California's railroads to welcome Jiang to "the state built with Chinese muscle in the 19th century and with Chinese genius in the high-tech world of the 20th century." But in introducing Jiang at the lunch, the Republican governor also referred indirectly to China's human rights record as Jiang sat stone-faced on the dais.

"A free people deserves to be, and inevitably will be, more creative and productive in every way than those who labor in servitude with no hope of sharing the fruits of their labor," Wilson said. "The great elixir of individual freedom is the best prescription to accelerate and intensify your success."

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But the overall theme of the day was economic cooperation - hardly surprising since California now exports goods worth about $6 billion a year to China, mostly in computer and aerospace equipment.

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