Keeping Pace with the Time and Pragmatically Promoting the Sustained and Rapid Development of Sino-US Hi-tech Trade |
| 2009-10-28 14:55 |
| From:Mofcom Article type:Original |
 Good morning! Thanks to our concerted efforts, the 4th session of the China-US Hi-tech and Strategic Trade Working Group Meeting is being held today in the Reagan Center. This is an important meeting held at a critical point in the development of China-US hi-tech trade. At this meeting, government officials and hi-tech business representatives will have exchanges and discussions about furthering China-US cooperation in hi-tech trade, and will step up practical cooperation in areas such as civil aviation and space, as well as information technology. The meeting aims at building consensus to lay the ground for the 20th JCCT to be held in October 2009 in China. The success of the meeting will have a constructive impact on the sustained and sound development of China-US hi-tech trade under new circumstances, and therefore be of great significance. On behalf of the Chinese side, I would like to extend our warm welcome to the government officials and business representatives from both sides present today. Since its inception in April 2006, three working group meetings and one major seminar have been held under the Sino-US Hi-tech and Strategic Trade Working Group. Through the close cooperation between the commerce authorities of the two countries, both sides have made substantive and positive progress in establishing mutual trust, expanding cooperation, facilitating and promoting civilian hi-tech trade. Both sides have identified civil aviation and space, and information technology as the priority areas for expanding bilateral civilian hi-tech trade cooperation, and formulated amongst others the Guiding Principles for the Development of China-US Hi-tech and Strategic Trade. Both sides agreed to eliminate barriers to trade and formulate and implement staged plans in a bid to promote the further development of bilateral civilian hi-tech and strategic trade. Last January, the two countries, through rounds of consultations and candid exchanges between the two commerce ministries, successfully signed the Letter of Exchange Regarding the Issue of Validated End-user Visits. The above-mentioned progress has laid a sound foundation for the further development of China-US hi-tech trade. I hereby would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to those from the governments, business communities and other walks of life who have for long cared for and supported the development of hi-tech trade between the two countries! Over the past three decades since the establishment of diplomatic ties, China and the US have witnessed ups and downs and seen real progress in their relations thanks to the unremitting efforts from both sides. For long, the Chinese and American peoples have always been cherishing a strong interest and friendly feelings towards one another. The Chinese people admire the enterprising spirit of the American people and the remarkable achievements they have made in building their homeland. As China develops rapidly and China-US cooperation continues to deepen, more and more Americans are looking to China, and following more closely China’s development and progress. Bilateral relations between the two maintain a positive momentum. Last April in London, President Hu Jintao and President Obama agreed to jointly build a positive, cooperative and comprehensive Sino-US relationship in the 21st century. On September 23rd, President Hu Jintao met with President Obama for the second time in New York. President Hu said that China was ready to work together with the US, firmly steer the relations between the two countries in the right direction, deepen pragmatic cooperation in various areas and take forward the sound and steady development of the relations between the two countries. President Obama said that he was committed to building a real cooperative and comprehensive bilateral relationship between the US and China. Particularly in light of the fact that the two countries face common challenges on many global and regional issues, he hoped that US-China relations could be very “dynamic” and “effective”, and that our relations on global, regional and bilateral fronts could be elevated to a new level. As bilateral relations continue to deepen, cooperation on the trade and economic front is also intensifying. China and the US are now the second largest trading partners to each other. Just now Vice Minister Jiang also highlighted the status of China-US trade and economic cooperation in his speech. In the last eight years, China-US trade achieved a threefold increase. The rapid development of China-US trade and economic cooperation has breathed new life into the bilateral relations. We have many more examples and figures to illustrate the achievements we have made in the trade and economic relations, yet on an occasion such as this, some rational analysis of the problems and difficulties facing our hi-tech trade cooperation today and listening to the hearts of businesses in a bid to eliminate unnecessary and man-made barriers and create a sound environment for the exchanges and cooperation between hi-tech businesses of the two countries should be in my opinion more meaningful. As far as I am concerned, the current cooperation in hi-tech trade still lags behind the development of bilateral relations. Some outdated ideas, laws and regulations have become major barriers that impede the development of bilateral trade. As a result, many businesses in both countries have missed a lot of trading opportunities. We may analyze the matter from the following perspectives: 1. US share of China’s total hi-tech imports has been declining. According to China’s customs statistics, China imported around 80 billion USD worth of hi-tech products in 2001, about 11.7 billion USD or 18.3% of which came from the US. In 2008, China imported 340 billion USD, only 24.12 billion USD or 7% of which came from the US, lower than the 9% of the EU and 14% of Japan. If the US had been able to maintain the 18.3% share, its exports of hi-tech products to China would have generated 60 billion USD in additional revenue. In these 8 years, China’s imports from the EU had increased by 168% and by 283% from Japan, in contrast with the 106% increase in imports from the US. We all know the competitiveness and innovative power of US hi-tech firms were not waning in this period. 2. In recent years, notwithstanding continued improvements and developments in bilateral relations, the US has tightened its export control policy against China. In 2007, the US introduced new discriminatory export control regulations on China by adding to the control list 47 items including some low-end fiber materials, numerical controlled machine tools and electronic devices which were previously exportable to China without a license. The new regulations have enlarged the scope of export administration, increased transactional costs and risks and sent an extremely negative signal to Chinese and US hi-tech firms. A report published by AmCham China also suggests the unreasonable export restraints put in place by the US authority have adversely affected US exports of semiconductor parts, non-destructive testing (NDT) equipment and materials processing equipment to China. 3. Several trade cases of recent years have led to huge financial losses for Chinese firms and created a damaging ripple in the Chinese business community. There is now an agreement among Chinese firms that caution should be exercised when considering investment in projects involving products on the US export control list and that purchasing from the US should be minimized. 4. Cumbersome export licensing procedures and visa concerns have affected trade sentiments, added to uncertainties and stripped many Chinese companies of the interest to import US products. In recent years, members of US-bound Chinese buying missions have frequently been denied visa. Visa rejections without justification have deeply confused and discouraged Chinese businesses and as a result, led to a loss of trade opportunities for the US. China has noted that the value of shipments on which the license to export to China was denied by the US authority was only a fraction of total China-US trade, but the actual trade ramifications caused by each rejection went far beyond the monetary value. As the White House made clear in a statement last August, swift changes were taking place in the global economy and technology. The export control regime should be reformed and adapted to the new situation. I was glad to hear Secretary Locke of the US Department of Commerce saying most recently that he was committed to changing the US export control regime, which was designed on concerns during the Cold War period, and to facilitating visa issuance for Chinese business visitors seeking to do business in the US. China looks forward to a positive outcome from the contemplated reform of the US export control policy to help further expand China-US trade in civilian high technology and create a more favorable trade environment for Chinese and US companies. Most importantly, China should not be excluded from any trade facilitation measures. (To be continued） |
| (Source: English Site of Department of Foreign Affairs) |
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