Business leaders and former senior officials from China and the US gathered in Washington on Wednesday to explore ways to improve bilateral trade and investment relationships.

The Eighth Annual US-China CEO and Former Senior Officials' Dialogue (May 18-19) precedes the annual China-US Strategic and Economic Dialogue in Beijing early next month.

Zeng Peiyan, former vice-premier in China and now chairman of the China Center for International Economic Exchanges, said the Chinese economy has entered a critical period of structural reform and is striving to avoid the "middle-income trap".

Zeng said he hoped that the meeting could be a time for the two sides to listen to and understand each other to eliminate suspicion, increase trust and reduce misjudgment.

He said candid, frank and constructive dialogue about issues of common concern will help practical cooperation between business communities in the two countries and provide workable policy advice for the two governments.

Zeng also said he hoped the meeting will inject new momentum into the bilateral relationship.

China replaced Canada last year as the US' largest trading partner, with bilateral trade approaching $600 billion. US exports to China have grown an average of 12 percent annually in the past decade, making China one of the fastest-growing markets for the US.

US International Trade Administration and Bureau of Economic Analysis statistics show that exports to China supported nearly 1 million jobs in the US in 2015.

Meanwhile, US companies' total foreign direct investment in China has reached $77.5 billion, growing at an annual rate of 20 percent. China's foreign direct investment in the US also has increased dramatically, from $50 million in 2000 to $46.6 billion by the end of 2015.

Thomas Donohue, president and CEO of the US Chamber of Commerce, applauded the achievements in bilateral trade and investment relations.

He expressed concern over the anti-trade rhetoric by the 2016 US presidential candidates and said the winning candidate has to understand that trade is part of the solution and not the problem.

"We must do what we must do to advance this positive and constructive and achievable agenda and get busy achieving it," he said of US-China trade relations.

"That agenda includes completing the negotiation of a high-standard, comprehensive Bilateral Investment Treaty by the end of this year," Donohue said.

chenweihua@chinadailyusa.com