US-China Trade and Economic Relations Forum Held in Hong Kong

At the forum of US-China Economic and Trade Relations: What Now, What Next, held in Hong Kong on 9 July 2019, Chinese and foreign guests called for enhanced cooperation between China and the United States despite significant changes in international trend.

The forum was jointly organized by China Center for International Economic Exchanges(CCIEE) and the China-United States Exchange Foundation(CUSEF). At the opening ceremony, Tung Chee-hwa, Vice Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and Chairman of the CUSEF, delivered a welcome speech. Zeng Peiyan, Chairman of CCIEE, and Yasuo Fukuda, former Prime Minister of Japan, and Ed Feulner, Chairman of the Asian Studies Center in Heritage Foundation, delivered keynote speeches respectively. The speakers stressed that the two economies are vital to global economic stability, they should control their differences, continue to promote the US-China economic and trade consultations and advance the bilateral relations based on coordination, cooperation and stability.

In his keynote speech, Zeng Peiyan analyzed the reasons for the US-China trade deficit with detailed data and pointed out that in the deployment of global industrial chain and value chain, commodities, technology, manpower, capital and other factors have achieved large-scale cross-border mobility, which has formed a large market of global factors, a large intersection, a large cycle and a large balance. This will improve the efficiency of factor allocation greatly and promote the prosperity of the global economy. In the era of globalization, new ideas also need to be taken into consideration, not just from the perspective of trade in goods, but also from the benefits of global factor flow. The benefits of participating countries in the transaction depends on the comparative advantages of natural endowments, capital accumulation, technology, industry, labor quality and other related factors, as well as ways and means of participation.

Zeng Peiyan emphasized that the formation of the US foreign trade deficit has its objective inevitability but the United States did not suffer from its economic and trade exchanges with China. Instead, the US government, enterprises and families have obtained tangible benefits from the trade with China. The United States should assess the causes, gains and losses of its trade deficit comprehensively, and adopt policy measures based on objective analysis. Adding tariffs will only be counterproductive. He hopes that China and the United States can respect each other’s core interests, address their legitimate concerns, implement the principles and directions set by the two heads of state, be pragmatic and enterprising, and achieve mutually acceptable trade agreements.

In his speech, Yasuo Fukuda reviewed the economic and trade frictions Japan had with the United States in the past, and emphasized that economic and trade frictions are inevitable during the process of economic development. Both sides should see the big picture and make the right decisions. If the frictions are handled well, it will be an opportunity for both parties to make progress.

Feulner analyzed the challenges facing the economic and trade negotiations between China and the United States, saying that China and the United States should treat reshaping and upgrading economic and trade relations between the two countries as a common goal, and regard the economic and trade negotiations as an opportunity to achieve this goal. The United States must learn to adjust the way it interacts with China and hopes that both sides will actively promote negotiations and implement the agreements reached.

The guests interviewed by the reporters said that the China-US relations are one of the most important bilateral relations in the world. Although there are some differences between the two countries, the interests of the two sides are highly integrated and the areas of cooperation should be mutually promoted and developed together. The meeting between the two heads of state in Osaka reached an important consensus and agreed to restart economic and trade consultations on the basis of equality and mutual respect, which has pointed out the direction for the future development of China-US relations.

Former Republican Senator Mark Kirk believes that China-US economic and trade consultations have a bright prospect. As long as the two sides adhere to a pragmatic and cooperative attitude, effectively address mutual concerns, and strengthen communication and dialogue, they can create a positive atmosphere and ultimately achieve mutually beneficial and win-win results.

The US-China Economic and Trade Relations: What Now, What Next forum lasts for two days and covers three topics, “US-China Economic and Trade Relations”, “US-China Relations: Status Quo and Prospects”, “Globalization, Global Governance and the Future of Multilateralism”. Former senior officials and CEOs from China, the United States, Canada, Japan, Singapore and other countries and regions attended the forum, including representatives of the US-China National Committee, American Chamber of Commerce, the Heritage Foundation, Brown University, Yale University, Hong Kong Chinese University, China Industry Association, Qualcomm, Chint, Dell, Intel and others.