Chinese Vice President Han Zheng said that China welcomes global companies, including U.S. ones, to expand their presence in the market. The U.S. has no intention to decouple from the Chinese economy, and a decoupling of the world's two largest economies would be disastrous for both countries and would destabilize the world, U.S. delegates said at the 14th annual U.S.-China CEO and Former Senior Officials' Dialogue in Beijing. Competition is everywhere in today's world, but it should be healthy competition that promotes win-win results, rather than a zero-sum game, Chinese Vice President Han Zheng said when meeting U.S. representatives during the event. “China will unswervingly advance reform and opening-up, and welcome companies from all over the world, including the U.S., to deepen their presence in the Chinese market and contribute to maintaining the stability and smooth flow of global industrial and supply chains and promoting world economic development,” said Han.
Delegates from the two sides had in-depth discussions and exchanges on the global economic situation and the prospects of China-U.S. economic and trade relations, the digital economy, sustainable development and healthcare. Bi Jingquan, Executive Vice Chairman of the China Center for International Economic Exchanges (CCIEE), said at the opening ceremony that China and the U.S. share a wide range of common interests despite differences. “U.S. companies have invested a cumulative USD96 billion in China, while Chinese companies have invested USD77.2 billion in the U.S. Behind the huge bilateral trade and investment flows are the interdependence of the two economies, the mutual trust of entrepreneurs and the common interests of the two peoples,” Bi noted. The U.S. representatives said that the U.S. and China need to work closely together on the digital economy. In the digital economy, sustainable development and healthcare, U.S. companies have a lot of advantages, such as technologies, while China has market advantages. They complement each other and create a win-win situation, Hu Qimu, Deputy Secretary General of the digital real economies integration Forum 50, told the Global Times.
“U.S. representatives' remarks at the event fully show the divergent interests of the U.S. political and business communities. The former is more concerned with geopolitical interests, and it advocates 'decoupling' for more votes,” said Hu. Chinese delegates said that with the resumption of a new round of high-level interactions between China and the U.S., a valuable time window for a turnaround had opened up for bilateral relations. It is hoped that the U.S. representatives will communicate more with the U.S. government and society, and play a constructive role in promoting the sound and stable development of China-U.S. relations, Chinese representatives said. It is imperative to work together instead of against each other to meet global challenges, they added. Hu noted that the trade barriers initiated by the U.S. have seriously distorted global industry chains, and turned the exports of American companies into their inventories, which harmed those companies' interests. In the context of globalization, any disruption of industry chains will affect all countries involved.
Since 2011, the CCIEE and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce have jointly organized the U.S.-China CEO and Former Senior Officials' Dialogue, which has been successfully held 13 times in Beijing and Washington, the Global Times reports.
