Businesses

BEIJING - As Gov. Jerry Brown tours some of China's economic hubs this week, he is breathing the kind of heavy, soiled air that blanketed Los Angeles decades ago. The soot and smog that are byproducts of this country's industrial progress are choking its people and threatening its economy. Chinese leaders are talking openly about the need to clean up the air, and to learn how from California. So Brown and a large delegation of business and political leaders have come to lend a hand, as well as to leverage China's need into business deals.

BEIJING --The frenzied atmosphere in the 10 th -floor ballroom of the Hunan Hotel had little to do with the presence of the vice minister of commerce or the governor of California. For more than a hundred business people and low-level bureaucrats from around China, this was a chance to meet new American business contacts. And that meant handing out business cards  --  lots and lots of business cards. To the uninitiated, be forewarned - Chinese professionals share cards with missionary-like zeal.

About 90 delegates from business and politics are traveling with Gov. Jerry Brown in China this week. Among them: Rusty Areias: Partner in influential consulting firm California Strategies. Married to a Democratic fundraiser. Jay Behmke : Managing director, Yao Family Wines, owned by former NBA star Yao Ming. Kofi Bonner: President, Lennar Urban San Francisco. Builder. Finalizing $1.7-billion deal with China Development Bank for two San Francisco developments.

WASHINGTON -- Small-business owners were less optimistic about the economy last month amid signs of another slowdown in the recovery. The Small Business Owner Optimism Index from the National Federal of Independent Business dropped to 89.5 in March, down 1.3 points from the previous month, the group said Tuesday. The measure, based on a random survey of 759 business owners, had risen for three straight months. The average monthly reading has been 90.7 since the end of the Great Recession in mid-2009.

Business travel spending is expected to rise 5.1% in 2013, a sign of a stronger economy and high consumer confidence, according to a trade group for business travel managers. The Global Business Travel Assn.'s latest prediction is an increase from its last prediction of a 4.6% increase in business travel spending over 2012. Travel spending grew by only 1.8% in 2012 over the previous year. The 5.1% increase means business travelers in the U.S. will spend an estimated $268.5 billion in 2013, according to the trade group.

There are trolls who live under bridges in fantasy novels. Then there are "copyright trolls. " The latter have always occupied one of the most squalid corners of the legal system. They're people or firms that acquire copyrights to movies, music or other creative works chiefly to turn a profit by filing lawsuits alleging piracy. Often the threat of a lawsuit is used to scare Web users into paying nominal settlement fees to avoid legal costs and a big penalty. Collect a few checks of a few thousand bucks each from enough defendants, and presto!

Despite predictions by federal officials that deep budget cuts would lead to long wait times at the nation's airports, airline on-time performance did not change significantly during the busy spring break period. But the cuts brought about by the so-called sequestration did force government agencies to slash travel spending by as much as 30% in March, lowering revenue for the nation's airlines. When a budget battle between Congress and the Obama administration boiled over in February, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano predicted that job furloughs and cuts in overtime pay to airport screeners and customs officers would result in gridlock and airport wait times growing by an hour or more.

  BEIJING -- Hand out your business card with two hands. Go ahead and slurp your soup. Give a gift to a client, but by all means, avoid clocks and knives. These are among the pointers, cultural hints and etiquette tips the state's new China Trade and Investment office is offering delegates traveling with Gov. Jerry Brown, who arrives in Beijing on Tuesday. The new office will open later this week when Brown travels to Shanghai for the official ribbon cutting. The estimated $1 million it will cost to run the office every year is being raised by the Bay Area Council, a nonprofit business group that has also organized Brown's weeklong trip here.

General Electric Co. has agreed to acquire Lufkin Industries Inc. for more than $3 billion as the mega-firm looks to grow its expanding oil and gas business. The $88.50-a-share offer from GE represents a 38.4% premium over Lufkin's Friday $63.93 closing price. The deal for Lufkin, which employs 4,500 people in more than 40 countries, expands GE's artificial-lift capabilities to a larger variety of well types. GE Oil & Gas President Daniel C. Heintzelman said the acquisition beefs up his company's offerings in a segment that “is at the heart of critical changes” that are transforming the oil and gas industry, allowing producers to maximize the potential of wells.

As Gov. Jerry Brown visits China this week on a week-long trade mission, a U.S.-China business group said Monday that cybersecurity laws unfairly target Chinese firms, causing the U.S. to miss out on foreign investment.  The U.S.-China Business Council criticized current law that requires purchases of information technology systems from China to undergo a review process. The process is intended to assess whether such a purchase by U.S. government agencies would make the U.S. vulnerable to a cyber attack.