VPs square up to roundtable
Updated: 2012-02-16 09:31
By Dai Yan (China Daily)
Xi says both sides should avoid politicizing economic and trade issues, and calls on entrepreneurs to fulfill social responsibility
WASHINGTON – The highly complementary economies of China and the United States seek more cooperation in the future, said Vice-President Xi Jinping at a roundtable of business leaders on Tuesday afternoon.
Addressing more than 20 Chinese and US entrepreneurs, Xi called on both sides to help advance trade and economic ties, which serve as the “ballast” and “propeller” of relations.
Entrepreneurs should turn the great potential cooperation into concrete and tangible results, said Xi with US counterpart Joe Biden by his side.
Both sides should avoid politicizing economic and trade issues as well as all forms of interference, and should strive to safeguard the general situations of Sino-US economic and trade cooperation and relations, Xi said.
“With regard to the US concerns about trade balance, intellectual property rights protection, indigenous innovation and investment environment, China has taken steps to address them and will continue to do so,” he said.
“We hope that the US will adopt the same positive attitude and take credible steps as soon as possible to address Chinese concerns on lifting restrictions on high-tech exports to China, and providing a level playing field for Chinese companies investing in America,” he said.
VPs square up to roundtable
Vice-President Xi Jinping (center) and US Vice-President Joe Biden (second right) participate in a US-China roundtable with business leaders at the US Chamber of Commerce in Washington on Tuesday. [Liu Jiansheng / Xinhua]
Xi also called on the entrepreneurs to fulfill their social responsibilities and repay society to ensure people from the two countries can benefit more from China-US economic and trade cooperation.
The rise of China will bring a new partner with whom the US can help meet the global challenges both sides face, said Biden.
“Even as our nations cooperate though, we’ll continue to compete. As Americans, we welcome this competition,” he said.
“China will be the critical business opportunity for American companies in the years ahead and it is important to share our views with the political leadership of our two nations,” said Muhtar Kent, chairman of the US-China Business Council, as well as chairman and CEO of Coca-Cola.
“More work needs to be done to develop deeper commercial ties and make progress on issues that impact American companies doing business with China,” said US-China Business Council President John Frisbie.
This is the second dialogue between the vice-presidents and business leaders from both countries. The US-China Business Council and the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade co-hosted a similar dialogue in Beijing during Biden’s visit in August.
The US treasury department released a fact sheet on Tuesday stating that the US and China are committed to comprehensive policy measures to achieve more balanced trade and to increase investment in both nations. It also said China wishes to increase imports from the US.
The report also said the US and China are aiming to exchange views on developments in European financial markets and discuss approaches that can support Europe’s own efforts to overcome its debt crisis.
It warned that World Trade Organization rules should be strictly observed when initiating trade investigations and imposing trade measures.
Zhao Shengnan in Beijing contributed to this story.
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