On July 29, Wang Shouwen, Deputy Minister of Commerce and Deputy Representative of International Trade Negotiations, had a video discussion with representatives of the American Chamber of Commerce and some member companies. The two sides exchanged views on issues of common concern such as China-US economic and trade relations, China’s opening up, and business environment. American Chamber of Commerce Executive Vice President and President of International Affairs Bo Myron and representatives of more than 10 member companies attended the meeting.
Wang Shouwen said that over the past 40 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the United States, bilateral economic and trade relations have developed rapidly and the integration of interests has continued to deepen, bringing tangible benefits to the two peoples. The prospects for cooperation between the two parties are very broad. It should also be noted that the current Sino-US economic and trade relations are facing severe challenges. Some people in the United States are advocating comprehensive strategic competition with China and continuously taking wrong actions in Xinjiang-related, Hong Kong-related, and Taiwan-related aspects, which undermines the foundation of dialogue and cooperation between the two countries. Resolutely oppose this.
Wang Shouwen said that the Chinese government has unswervingly expanded opening up and adopted a series of positive measures. In terms of trade in goods, the continuous and independent reduction of tariff levels has been reduced from the 9.8% promised when joining the WTO to 7.5%. In terms of service trade, China recently released the “Hainan Cross-border Service Trade Negative List”, which is a major breakthrough in China’s service trade management model. In terms of investment, China will continue to reduce the negative list of foreign investment access and continue to increase the level of openness. China has also actively strengthened the protection of intellectual property rights and created a market-oriented, legalized, and international business environment. Upon inquiry, Wang Shouwen introduced China’s support policy for high-tech enterprises and responded to some specific questions raised by the enterprises.
Bo Myron and representatives of member companies of the American Chamber of Commerce stated that the U.S. business community generally looks forward to the development of healthy, stable, and mutually beneficial Sino-US economic and trade relations, and opposes economic and trade decoupling, and hopes that the two sides will strengthen dialogue and communication and deepen practical cooperation in the economic and trade field.
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