Chinese Delegation Arrives in US for Strategic, Economic Dialogues, Cooperation on Energy Issues

News Analysis: Upgraded China-U.S. dialogue a new platform to expand cooperation

2009-07-26 10:18:39  

    BEIJING, July 26 (Xinhua) --

The first China-U.S. Strategic and Economic Dialogue will inject vigor into the world economy's revival, while the global economic downturn is yet to bottom out, predicted two Chinese experts on international relations and economy.

    The dialogue, scheduled for July 27 and 28 in Washington, would be a higher profile gathering than its predecessor -- the Strategic Dialogue and the Strategic Economic Dialogue, Li Changjiu, an expert on economic affairs at the Center of World Studies in Beijing said.

    This is manifested by the fact that U.S. President Barack Obama will make a speech and top officials from both sides, including Chinese State Councilor Dai Bingguo, Vice Premier Wang Qishan, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, will preside over the talks, he noted.

    "By upgrading the strategic and economic dialogue, the U.S. aims to strengthen its economic ties with China, a rising power and the biggest developing country, amid the current economic crisis," Li said in an interview with Xinhua.

    When the global financial crisis started at the end of last year, the United States and other countries in the Group of Eight came to realize that they could not deal with it alone and that emerging powers like China are reliable partners to counter the downturn.

    In such a context, both sides are expected to broaden their economic cooperation, Li said.

    ENERGY COOPERATION

    In the eyes of Jin Canrong, deputy dean of International Studies School at China's Renmin University, cooperation between China and the United States has great potential to tap in the energy sector. Energy reportedly is high on the agenda of the dialogue.

    "As the two largest energy consumers in the world, it is useful for both sides to increase mutual understanding of each other's energy policies and priorities, and the dialogue will serve that purpose," Jin said in an interview with Xinhua.

    Despite occasional frictions, the two countries have much in common on the issue of energy because both are major energy consumers and are determined to looking for new energy sources.

    Jin's comments were echoed by Li, who believes bilateral cooperation would play a significant role in easing global energy shortage.

    "Both countries are the two biggest energy consumers worldwide. They have huge potential in exploring new energy sources," Li said.

    Li added that the coal industry is another field of cooperation as the United States, the second largest coal producer in the world, can help China improve its efficiency and safety in coal production and utilization.

    ENHANCE MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING

    Jin said Monday's debut of the dialogue mechanism would focus on clearing each other's misgivings and building trust and understanding.

    "Through the dialogue, China and the United States can exchange information, clear misgivings and boost bilateral ties," Jin said.

    Li also said the United States should understand China's concerns and avoid setting up new barriers for bilateral trade.

    "During the past decade until 2006, China's exports had saved American consumers about 600 billion dollars and nearly 100 billion dollars alone in 2004 ... the United States is also a de facto beneficiary from the imbalanced trade with China," Li said.

    "This should remind the United States that it will punish its friends, allies and even itself by setting up trade barriers against China," he said.

    "Therefore, both sides should make the dialogue an opportunity to push bilateral cooperation forward and contribute to the recovery of the world economy," he said.

Editor: Anne Tang

Chinese delegation arrives in U.S. for strategic, economic dialogues

 2009-07-26 06:05:32  

    WASHINGTON, July 25 (Xinhua) --

A Chinese delegation arrived here on Saturday to attend the first round of the China-U.S. Strategic and Economic dialogues.

    More than 100 Chinese officials, led by Vice Premier Wang Qishan and State Councilor Dai Bingguo, landed at the Andrews Air Force Base outside Washington, D.C., and were welcomed by U.S. State Department senior officials and Chinese embassy officials.

    The first round of the strategic and economic dialogues, which will be held on July 27-78 in Washington, is a reincarnation in a broader format of the Strategic Economic Dialogue set up by former U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, who used the forum to engage Beijing on an array of issues critical to longer-term bilateral relations.

    The new mechanism was jointly launched by Chinese President Hu Jintao and his U.S. counterpart Barack Obama during their meeting in London in April.

    On the U.S. side, the dialogues will be headed by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner.

    According to Chinese Foreign Ministry, Dai and Clinton will co-chair the "Strategic Track" of the dialogue, while Wang and Geithner will co-chair the "Economic Track."

    Obama will address the opening session of the dialogue, and meet with the Chinese delegation after the dialogue.

    During the meetings, the two sides will have extensive discussions on issues of strategic, overall and long-term significance in order to "deepen understanding, enhance mutual trust and promote cooperation," said a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman at a press conference earlier this month.

    According to a Chinese finance official, China will explicitly raise at the "Economic Track" dialogue the hope that the United States "should make responsible economic policies, including financial and monetary policies, to maintain stability of the dollar and safeguard safety of China's assets."

    On the agenda of the "Strategic Track" dialogues, Chinese Foreign Ministry has said that the two sides would discuss the resumption of the six-party talks on the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue for a peaceful resolution. 

Strategic-economic dialogue to facilitate China-U.S. cooperation

2009-07-26 18:05:51  

    by Xinhua writers Zhao Yi, Liu Lina

    WASHINGTON, July 25 (Xinhua) --

The China-U.S. Strategic and Economic Dialogue (S&ED) will be held here on Monday and Tuesday, when the two countries will have extensive discussions on issues of common concern to deepen understanding, enhance mutual trust and promote cooperation.

    Chinese Vice Premier Wang Qishan will co-chair the "Economic Track" of the dialogue with U.S. Treasure Secretary Timothy Geithner, while Chinese State Councilor Dai Bingguo will co-chair the "Strategic Track" with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

    The scheduled high-level meeting, the first of its kind between the world's biggest developing country and biggest developed country, is a reincarnation in a broader format of the Strategic Economic Dialogue set up by the two countries in 2006.

    The new mechanism was jointly launched by Chinese President Hu Jintao and his American counterpart Barack Obama during their meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit in London on April 1.

    "President Obama will address the opening session of the first U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue on Monday July 27," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters early this week.

    The dialogue will address the challenges and opportunities that both countries are facing on a wide range of bilateral, regional and global issues of immediate and long-term strategic and economic interests. It will also set the stage for discussions on ongoing and future bilateral cooperative mechanisms, the spokesman said.

    Since Obama took office in January, thanks to the joint efforts of both sides, China-U.S. relations have maintained the good momentum of development. The frequent high-level exchanges and consultations at different levels have effectively promoted mutual understanding and cooperation in many fields.

    In addition, a series of bilateral discussions on the nuclear issues on the Korean Peninsula and in Iran, the situations in South Asia and the Middle East, energy security and global climate change have also yielded positive results.

    All these efforts by China and the United States have created a favorable atmosphere for the coming China-U.S. Strategic and Economic Dialogue.

    The fruitful dialogues between China and the U.S. in recent years have played important roles in promoting bilateral ties. People are confident that the two countries, in the first round of the China-U.S. Strategic and Economic Dialogue , will further broaden consensus, reduce differences, deepen mutual trust and enhance cooperation, so as to promote positive cooperation and push forward bilateral ties in a comprehensive way.