NEW YORK - Two US-China business agreements were inked during Shenzhen Mayor Xu Qin's visit this week in Manhattan.

Shenzhen Relin Medicine, a Chinese pharmaceutical company dealing in medicines for the eye, announced a joint venture with MingSight Pharmaceuticals of San Diego to develop and commercialize an innovative treatment for diabetic eye diseases in China.

US Air Products and Chemicals Inc, with support and assistance from Invest Shenzhen, also announced that it will build a facility in Shenzhen to achieve a sales income of 135 million yuan ($21 million) and an annual revenue of 16 million yuan.

Shenzhen is known for China's most successful high-tech Chinese companies like Huawei, ZTE, BYD and Tencent. The output value of Shenzhen's high-tech products reached approximately $159.6 billion last year, accounting for more than half of the total industrial output value.

Over the years, the city has attracted the investment of high-tech and financial services companies such as IBM, Intel, Oracle, Citibank and JP Morgan.

Xu, who said that Shenzhen prides itself on its high-tech resources and wants to draw more American businesses to the city, also attended the launch of BYD's US headquarters for its electric vehicles earlier this week in Los Angeles.

It was recently announced that BYD will partner with Hertz Rent-a-Car to provide the first long-range electric eBUS shuttle from Los Angeles International Airport to Hertz' rental car facilities. The two companies have plans to introduce BYD's electric e6 series car in the US next year.

BYD had worked with Hertz to introduce two e6 series electric cars in Shenzhen to provide electric-car rentals to the Shenzhen airport, hotels and ports between Shenzhen, Hong Kong and Macao.

"We hope we can strengthen the business ties between the United States and Shenzhen," said Xu on Thursday. He was joined at a signing ceremony to introduce the deals by Wang Youming, Invest Shenzhen's director general; and Mark Jaffe, president of the Greater New York Chamber of Commerce.

Jaffe said the US and China will both have many opportunities in the near future.

"President (Barack) Obama announced steps to create American jobs and to help lower students' debt payments. Our economy is hurting. We need to further US-China cooperation," Jaffe said.