Chinese Vice Premier Wu Yi praised U.S. domestic efforts in blocking
protectionist legislation against China during the opening ceremony
of the 18th Sino-U.S. Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade (JCCT)
in Beijing on Tuesday.
She assured the American officials in attendance that China's
door would stay wide open to the outside world.
During her speech, Wu extended her appreciation on behalf of
China to U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, U.S. Commerce
Secretary Carlos Gutierrez and U.S. Trade Representative Susan
Schwab, all who had jointly signed an objection letter to U.S.
Congress leaders.
She also thanked the 1,028 American economists who had made a
joint public statement voicing their opposition and to the
executives of 105 American companies who wrote a letter to the U.S.
Congress leaders.
"Some unharmonious notes have been heard in the Sino-US trade
ties this year, marked by a sharp rise in the number of
congressional legislation against China, evident politicization of
economic and trade issues, strengthened control on exports to China
and the purpose exaggeration of China's food and product safety,"
Wu said.
These had seriously damaged the reputation of China-made
products and the image of China, she said.
Wu urged both sides to be far-sighted, think strategically and
facilitate consultation and collaboration. "Imposing restrictions
on normal trade or resorting to protective measures will be only
detrimental to the interests of both sides and helpless in
resolving problems."
U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez described the JCCT as
an "important institution" in Sino-U.S. ties, adding that the
one-day meeting and the upcoming Strategic Economic Dialogue (SED)
could give the world confidence that the United States and China
were "both committed to openness".
"Our number one desired approach is dialogue. I believe that we
have made it work. The best way to address our deficit is not by
reducing imports. Protectionism is something we must avoid
together," he said.
U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab echoed those sentiments
by regarding dialogue as "the most effective" way to solving
problems and to boosting the US-China relationship.
Chinese data showed that bilateral trade volume had rocketed
from less than 2.5 billion U.S. dollars when China and the United
States established diplomatic relations in the late 1970s to 262.68
billion U.S. dollars in 2006.
Wu had foreseen China to be the third largest importer to the
United States this year only after Canada and Mexico. China has
been the fastest-growing export market for the country for five
straight years and in the first nine months, Chinese imports to
America had exceeded 57 billion U.S. dollar.
"We have seen expanding common interests shared by China and the
United States," Wu said. "The communication and cooperation between
the two countries in trade, investment and finance have reached
unprecedented levels."
One instance was the surging mutual investment. She said that
the United States had invested nearly 55.4 billion U.S. dollars and
set up 54,000 companies in China as of October. Similarly, China's
investment in the United States approached nearly 3 billion U.S.
dollars.
Wu brushed aside worries that China would narrow down the range
of its opening-up policies, saying the country would not change its
stance in expanding the use of foreign capital. "China's door has
been and will be resolutely opened to the outside world," she
said.
Facing a more complex international financial environment and
the long-accumulated deep-rooted problems in the national economy,
China must remain sober-minded and seek a healthy and balanced
development through deepened reforms and in opening itself wider to
the world.
The JCCT, formed in 1983, has served as a bilateral venue for
China and the United States to address trade and market access
issues. The two countries will soon begin the 3rd China-U.S.
Strategic Economic Dialogue and the 5th Strategic Dialogue on
Wednesday.
(Xinhua News Agency December 11, 2007)
