Factbox: U.S. firms likely to meet China's Hu in Washington

Several U.S. business leaders will meet with Chinese chief executives in Washington during President Hu Jintao's visit next week, all seeking new deals to tap into economic growth in China.

Hu and U.S. President Barack Obama are expected to drop by during the meeting.

Here are some of the major companies expected to take part in the meeting and their ties with China.

GENERAL ELECTRIC CO

Makes equipment ranging from jet engines to medical imaging machines. The company is counting on strong growth in China to help offset a sluggish recovery at home. In December, the company said it expected sales in China to grow in the double digits in 2011.

In November, the company announced joint ventures with State Grid Corp of China to shore up and expand China's power grid.

GE also said in November that it would invest $2 billion in China through 2012.

COCA-COLA CO

The world's largest soft drink maker. The company has been expanding in China and recently announced the opening of three new bottling plants in Inner Mongolia, Henan province and Guangdong province. The plants were part of the companies' plan to invest $2 billion in China from 2009 to 2011.

The company said sales volume in China rose 12 percent in the third quarter of 2010.

BOEING CO

The world's largest aerospace and defense company forecast in November that China will need 4,330 new commercial airplanes valued at $480 billion over the next 20 years, making it the largest airplane market outside of the United States.

The company also buys aviation goods and services from China and said it expected those purchases to be more than $3 billion in coming years.

MICROSOFT CORP

The world's largest software maker told the Washington Post in July that better global enforcement of intellectual property laws was its top lobbying priority and CEO Steve Ballmer pegged China as the country with the weakest protections.

Microsoft and other members of the Business Software Alliance have called for a deal to boost U.S. software sales and exports to China by 50 percent.

But the company also is keen to invest in China. In September, Simon Leung, Microsoft's chief executive for the Greater China region, told the Journal in an interview that the company plans to invest about $100 million in Chinese companies.

Leung told the paper that Microsoft will target companies in sectors including software, cloud computing and possibly even gaming.