The 10th U.S.-China CEO and Former Senior Officials’ Dialogue was Held in Beijing

On May 15-16, the 10^th U.S.-China CEO and Former Senior Officials’ Dialogue was jointly held in Beijing by China Center for International Economic Exchanges(CCIEE) and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Delegates from China and the U.S. conducted candid exchanges on the U.S.-China economic and trade relations, including the U.S.-China trade friction, the policy orientation of the two nations in the future, the Belt and Road, digital economy, energy, agriculture, industry and other issues. Wang Qishan, Vice Chairman of China, met with the representatives of the U.S. delegation. 23 delegates participated in the dialogue, including Zeng Peiyan, Chairman of CCIEE, Thomas Donohue, President of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, business leaders, former government officials, experts and scholars from China and the U.S.

The Chinese representatives pointed out that the current U.S.-China economic and trade relations are at an important historical moment, and the economic and trade relation is the ballast stone of the U.S.-China relations, affecting not just the stability and development of the two countries but also the world economy as a whole. As for the U.S.-China economic and trade issues, dialogue and consultation are the only way to solve the problems. The zero-sum game, cold-war mentality and unilateralist approaches will not work. In his speeches delivered at the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China and the Boao Forum for Asia, President Xi Jinping emphasized that China’s adherence to the basic national policy of reform and opening up is based on the development trend of China and the world. The choice has been made to keep up with the trend of the times. China’s reform and opening-up have led to rapid development in the past 40 years and it is also the only way for China to build a modern country in the future. China is solving problems in the areas of intellectual property rights, market access, and business environment through deepening reform and opening up.

Furthermore, the Chinese delegates stated that the U.S.-China relations are one of the most important bilateral relations in the world. Both countries can have a major impact on global development and they should jointly safeguard the momentum of world economic recovery. They hope that the Chinese and American entrepreneurs will play a more active role in guiding public opinion and taking concrete actions to promote a healthy development of the U.S.-China relations.

The U.S. delegates pointed out that the U.S.-China economic and trade cooperation is highly complementary and trade protectionism such as high tariffs is not conducive to the development of the U.S.-China economic and trade relations. Both sides should take an active and pragmatic approach to properly solve the current problems in the U.S.-China economic and trade relations. The US business community will continue to work on promoting trade and investment cooperation between the two countries and ensure a stable and healthy development of the bilateral economic and trade relations.

The U.S.-China CEO and Former Senior Officials’ Dialogue aims to reach mutual consensus, strengthen strategic mutual trust, promote healthy, stable and sustainable U.S.-China relations, and build a platform for communication between Chinese and U.S. business leaders, former senior officials, and scholars of think tanks. The dialogue is an important second-track exchange mechanism for economy and trade. Since the first dialogue was held in Beijing in March 2011, nine more dialogues have been held in Beijing and Washington.