High-level economic officials from China and the United States
wrapped up a two-day strategic dialogue in Washington D. C. on
Wednesday and both sides agreed that the talks have enhanced mutual
understanding with much consensus and a wide variety of tangible
results.
The Second Meeting of US-China Strategic Economic Dialogue
(SED), co-chaired by Chinese Vice Premier Wu Yi and US Secretary of
Treasury Henry Paulson, was held against the background of rapid
growth of bilateral trade and rising protectionism in the United
States.
Business and trade ties between the two countries, which have
become each other's second largest trading partner, have been
complicated by recent US attempts to politicize trade issues and
blame China for its domestic problems that arise as the US adjusts
its economic structure to respond to challenges posed by economic
globalization.
Leaders of both countries, therefore, have attached great
importance to the dialogue. In a phone talk conducted on the eve of
the SED, Chinese President Hu Jintao and US President George W.
Bush exchanged views on how to promote trade and strengthen
constructive cooperation between the two countries through the
dialogue mechanism.
During the two-day closed-door talks in Washington, top economic
officials from the two countries, including dozens of cabinet
ministers, discussed topics covering areas of service, investment
and transparency, energy and environment, as well as growth balance
and innovation.
Both sides reached consensus on how to move forward in financial
services, civil aviation, and energy and environment, and signed a
number of specific agreements.
Under an aviation agreement reached Wednesday, daily passenger
flights from the U.S. to China will double by 2012, and air cargo
companies will have virtually unlimited access to Chinese market by
2011.
The two countries also agreed to work together as part of the
WTO Doha negotiations to discuss reducing or eliminating tariff and
non-tariff barriers to environmental goods and services.
Moreover, the two countries will provide policy incentives to
promote the full commercialization of advanced coal technologies
and will advance commercial use of carbon capture and storage
technologies.
On the front of the tourism industry, the two countries agreed
to launch negotiations to facilitate Chinese group leisure travel
to the U.S.
"With the great attention and joint efforts from both sides, the
second meeting of the strategic dialogue achieved great success,"
Vice Premier Wu, who is also here as special envoy of President Hu,
said in a concluding statement on Wednesday.
"China-US economic and trade relationship is one of the most
complicated in today's world," she said. "The SED provided an
excellent ground and opportunity for both sides to enhance the
mutual understanding and increased the mutual trust on the
strategic issues."
Meanwhile, the Chinese vice premier warned against the rising
protectionism in the United States. "It calls for direct
consultation and dialogue between us, instead of easy resort to
threat or sanctions," she said.
In his concluding statement, Paulson hailed the dialogue as
"very productive," saying that both sides agree on "many issues"
and also have achieved tangible results which are like "signposts"
on the long-term strategic road.
"The United States and China understand that getting our
economic relationship right is vital not only to our people, but to
the world economy," said Paulson, also as special envoy of
President Bush.
Both countries also agreed that "strengthening and deepening our
two-way trading relationship will create jobs and give our citizens
a wider variety of choices and lower prices on goods," he
added.
"We have built strong relationships since our inaugural meeting
in Beijing," said the secretary, referring to the first SED held in
Beijing in December last year. He emphasized that the relationships
between the two countries will "continue to grow stronger and
produce on-going returns."
The SED mechanism was initiated by President Hu and President
Bush to serve as a platform for the two sides to discuss long-term
and strategic issues in bilateral trade relationship. The dialogue
convenes twice a year, in Beijing and Washington respectively. The
next or third SED will be held in Beijing in December.
(Xinhua News Agency May 25, 2007)