Strategic economic dialogue 'is a chance to clear the air'
By Qin Jize and Li Xing (China Daily)Updated: 2006-12-15 08:45
Five special discussion sessions have been scheduled during the dialogue,
focusing on such issues as balanced development in urban and rural areas,
sustainable development, trade, investment, energy and the
environment.
The dialogue comes at a time when the China-US trade
relationship enters a more complicated stage with the five-year interim period
after China's WTO (find more in WTO package)accession coming to an end on December 11. That means China would
face more intense foreign competition in various fields.
"That's why
China and the US are holding the strategic economic dialogue at this time," said
Yan Xuetong, a researcher with Tsinghua University. "The dialogue will help
avoid the escalation of trade disputes."
Mei Xinyu, a researcher at the
Trade Research Institute of the Ministry of Commerce, added: "The significance lies in
enhancing mutual understanding and identifying long-term, strategic principles
that the two countries share."
Lu Feng, an economics professor at Peking University, said it is a wise
move for Beijing and Washington to sit down and get to know each other's
concerns.
The talks would have positive effects on pushing forward trade
and investment and break down barriers, Lu said.
Ma Zhen'gang, president
of the China Institute of International Studies, said the frequent high-level
exchanges between the two sides help develop common
understanding.
Speaking to about 500 students of the Graduate University
of the Chinese Academy of Sciences yesterday at the Chinese Sciences and
Humanities Forum, Ma said China and the United States now see their relations
and common interests as more intertwined than ever before.
No one can
deny that Sino-US trade is mutually complementary and beneficial, he
said.
"If the bilateral trade benefited only one side, it would not have
sustained such a dramatic growth in the past few years," Ma said.
The US
delegation is the highest-profile economic mission the United States has sent to
China, and includes the cabinet secretaries of commerce, labour, energy and
health and human services as well as Trade Representative Susan Schwab and Ben
Bernanke, chairman of the US Federal Reserve, who is paying his first visit to
the country.
Agencies, Xinhua contributed to the story
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