For the Chao Family, Deep Ties to the World’s 2 Largest Economies

The family of Elaine Chao, the transportation secretary and wife of Mitch McConnell, the Senate majority leader, has high-level political connections not only in the United States but also in China. That gives the family unusual status in the world’s two largest economies.

Through interviews, industry filings and government documents from both countries, The New York Times found that the Chaos, and by extension Mr. McConnell, prospered as the family’s shipping company developed deeper business ties in China. Along the way, one of the company’s boosters was Ms. Chao, who now oversees efforts to promote America’s own maritime industry, which is in steep decline as China’s shipping sector rises in global dominance. Here are five takeaways.

James S.C. Chao, 91, Ms. Chao’s father, studied navigation at a university in Shanghai before fleeing the mainland ahead of the Communist takeover in 1949. His schoolmate for a time was Jiang Zemin, who would become China’s president.

As China was emerging from decades of turmoil in 1984, the Chao family took a stake in a state-owned Chinese manufacturer of marine electronic equipment, documents show. The company targeted sales to China’s military, among other sectors, and was closely affiliated with a ministry run by Mr. Jiang. After Mr. Jiang came to lead the Communist Party a few years later, Mr. Chao met with him at least six times, including in August 1989 in Beijing — inside the party’s secretive leadership compound. Chao family members said they could not recall this investment.

Foremost Group, the New York-based shipping company founded by Mr. Chao in 1964, landed its first big contract with the United States government, shipping rice to Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War.

Now, it builds most of its ships in state-owned shipyards in China, with some financed by Chinese government loans. In at least two instances, those Chinese-backed, Chinese-built ships entered long-term contracts to deliver iron ore for a state-owned steel maker.