JIANG WALKS ON WALL STREET; LEADER VIEWS CAPITALIST CHAOS.

Byline: Ted Anthony Associated Press 

They hustled to and fro in the belly of the beast, capitalism's foot soldiers trolling the stock market floor, focused on dollars, shares and the fluctuations of a most unusual week.

Above, watching intently from a New York Stock Exchange balcony, stood China's president - the man at the pinnacle of a communist system that, in principle, is entirely opposite.

Yet when Jiang Zemin waded into frantic free-market chaos Friday, he illustrated dramatically what economics has been proving for years - that China and capitalism are moving inexorably closer.

``Good morning! I wish you good trading!'' an enthusiastic Jiang, grinning broadly and giving the thumbs-up, bellowed in English after he rang the market's opening bell Friday morning.

Many busy traders barely noticed him walk the floor, arm in arm with Richard A. Grasso, the stock exchange's chairman. Jiang seemed delighted but taken aback at a scene even more frenetic than a Beijing bus stop. He said hello to one trader, who smiled for a second before returning to work.

``The New York Stock Exchange has a lot to offer in financial management that we can learn from,'' Jiang said.

Finished with politics in Washington, where he faced a friendly but skeptical Congress and president concerned about China's human-rights policies, Jiang spent Friday getting down to business.

In the evening, he delivered a policy-heavy speech to a dinner sponsored by the U.S.-China Business Council and the China Chamber of Commerce in the U.S.A. His remarks reflected the Chinese leadership's continual attempts to balance socialism and the free market.

``We must ensure that our people will enjoy full access to the fruits of economic prosperity,'' Jiang said. But he also affirmed his commitment to China's ``socialist market economy.''

Jiang also took aim again at the U.S. practice of voting annually on China's ``most favored nation'' trade policy, which China perceives as an interfering yearly referendum on its human-rights policies.

``There are still some man-made obstacles'' Jiang said. ``They have prevented the potential for cooperation from being fully tapped.''

Jiang started his day with breakfast with former President Bush, an old China hand. After touring the stock exchange, where he addressed a breakfast attended by the financial chieftains of Goldman Sachs and Salomon Bros., Jiang moved on to meetings at private corporations.

High technology was his focus. At IBM, Chairman Louis V. Gerstner Jr. told Jiang that technology and the power of global networks will dissolve barriers between nations.

``Today, we are on the verge of the ultimate impact of computer technology,'' Gerstner told Jiang.

China is considered a dream market for U.S. companies, who see limitless economic opportunity in a nation of 1.2 billion people.

On Friday afternoon, Jiang made a foray into New Jersey for private meetings with AT&T and Lucent Technologies.

At Lucent, Jiang exchanged a friendly greeting with chairman Henry B. Schacht and CEO Richard A. McGinn before taking a tour of the facility that includes an electron beam system that makes faster, smaller, more powerful microchips. At AT&T Corp. in Bedminster, N.J., he viewed programs that automatically translate English into Mandarin and deliver music over the Internet.

U.S. business leaders say Jiang's presence, the first state visit by a Chinese leader since the late Deng Xiaoping's 12 years ago, represents an easing of Sino-U.S. tensions and encourages investment in China.