China and the United States are expected to make tangible
progress on trade and services in the second round of the strategic
economic dialogue.
Vice-Premier Wu Yi, who leads the Chinese delegation to
Washington, wrote an opinion piece in the Wall Street
Journal on the eve of the talks. She said the United States
should lift its restrictions on hi-tech exports to China, a topic
likely to be high on the Chinese delegation's agenda.
Wu said the move will help to address the trade imbalance
between the two countries, which the US is concerned about.
The two-day dialogue, which opens today, is also expected to
prevent the US from taking action to force revaluation of the
renminbi.
In return, Washington expects China to further open its
financial market although China has fulfilled its commitments to
the World Trade Organization.
Unnamed sources were quoted by the Financial Times as
saying staff-level negotiators have agreed that foreigners should
be allowed to buy a 49-percent stake in all but the biggest five
Chinese banks, up from the current maximum of 25 percent. But top
Chinese officials apparently have not signed any agreement on
this.
US officials also expect Beijing to relax limits on foreign
ownership of at least some securities firms and they want a higher
quota for foreign investment in the stock market.
US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said the two sides had
reached consensus in principle on a number of issues and what they
were now discussing were "the signposts and tangible specific steps
to be taken to show progress".
The two countries are also scheduled to discuss a wide range of
issues, such as opening more commercial air routes between the two,
increasing domestic demand in China for clean coal energy, and
facilitating tourism.
Meanwhile, senior officials from both sides said it was more
important to stick with a long-term approach to resolving bilateral
trade disputes, rather than concentrating on specific issues.
The strategic economic dialogue serves as a long-term and
far-reaching platform between the two sides, said Wang Xinpei,
spokesman with the Ministry of Commerce. He said the second round
of the meeting should yield positive progress as the presidents of
both countries, who initiated the talks, expect.
"As the largest developing country and the largest developed
country in the world China and the United States still largely
complement each other economically," Wang said.
The dialogue comes at a time when the two countries are facing
increasing trade disputes, and rising trade protectionism in the
United States.
The Chinese central bank announced late last week that the band
in which the yuan will be allowed to fluctuate against the dollar
each day will be widened from 0.3 percent to 0.5 percent above or
below the previous day's closing value.
(China Daily May 22, 2007)