As the Beijing Olympics wrap up this weekend, General Electric is taking its final strides in a race to sell everything from medical equipment to television advertisements while cementing ties with the leaders of the world's fastest-growing economy.

The Olympian effort brought in $1.7 billion in revenue, landing the No 2 US company by market capitalisation a spot on the winner's podium. And the gold medal would be a tighter tie with Chinese authorities that will help it reach its target of $10 billion in annual Chinese sales by 2010.

GE's NBC Universal unit paid about $900 million for the rights to broadcast the games in the United States. The conglomerate was one of 12 companies, including McDonald's and Johnson & Johnson, said to have paid up to $100 million each to be a top sponsor of the event. GE declined to confirm either figure, citing contractual obligations.

"The initial investment is one of just building a relationship with the country," said Lorenzo Simonelli, chief executive of GE's Transportation unit, which announced the delivery of the first of 300 locomotives to China in Beijing on Thursday. "It's not intrinsically linked to the Olympics itself. It's linked to China being an important marketplace."

For NBC, the payoff has been clear. The television network captured some of its best ratings in almost two decades as tens of millions of viewers tuned in to watch American swimmer Michael Phelps win a record setting eight gold medals.

GE chief executive Jeff Immelt has joked that Phelps, 23, should become the youngest vice president in the company's history as a reward for the ratings boost.

"You have to think about a place like China as our second home market," Immelt said in an interview on GE-owned CNBC television this week. "We made a big statement here with the Olympics and the sponsorship and we're not disappointed."

Some human-rights advocates have criticised the generally glowing picture of China provided to American viewers by NBC during the Olympics. There has been little coverage of human rights questions — such as the prevention of protests by the Chinese authorities even in areas designated for them.

"It's pretty clear that (GE and NBC) don't want to offend the Chinese," said Josh Friedman, director of international programmes at Columbia University's graduate school of journalism.