In an interview with China Daily, James Zimmerman,
chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce China (AmCham-China),
talks to Jiang Wei about issues related to the second round of the
Strategic Economic Dialogue (SED) between China and the United
States.
Q: What does AmCham expect from the SED? What
role will AmCham play in the SED?
A: AmCham-China strongly supports the SED
because we recognize that this kind of high-level, sustained
dialogue provides a critical avenue for fostering mutual
understanding and has the potential to yield progress on some of
the most contentious economic issues faced by both the US and
China.
Although AmCham-China is not an actual participant in this
government-to-government dialogue, we have been encouraged in all
of our meetings with the US and Chinese governments to share our
on-the-ground perspective on the various SED topics, which have
been uniformly welcomed as constructive and helpful.
In all of our meetings, we emphasize the importance of
engagement between China and the US. We recently took a delegation
of 26 AmCham member companies to Washington to meet with
decision-makers in the administration and over 50 members of
Congress and their staff and to provide our perspective on China-US
trade and economic issues.
Our key message was the importance and value of ongoing
engagement with China and the need to continue to cultivate what we
believe to be the world's most important economic relationship.
Q: What role will the SED play in the trade and
economy of both countries?
A: The SED provides both countries the
opportunity to work collaboratively and strategically on addressing
many of the politically-charged issues that at times obstruct our
countries' path to closer engagement and improved trade.
Many of the issues directly affect our member companies, and
since these issues do not have simple solutions and require
extensive discussions, we recognize that it is in all of our best
interests for the SED to be given the time and resources necessary
to succeed.
For example, the first SED focused in part on IPR protection,
which AmCham recognizes goes hand-in-hand with China's desire to
make the transition to an innovative society.
Innovation is critically important for our member companies to
remain globally competitive, and we anticipate that China's push
toward an innovative society will bring about a greater respect for
the legal framework that innovation depends on, namely IPR
enforcement.
AmCham sees synergy of opinions and room for understanding and
improvement on this issue, but we also know that this discussion is
intricate and will take time to bring to a mutually-beneficial
conclusion.
Q: What problems do you want solved in the
framework of the SED?
A: Each of the working groups that have been
set up under the SED covers topics and problems that are important
to solve - important to China, important to the US, and also
important to our member companies. These three working group topics
are promoting transparency, service-sector development, and easing
investments.
In addition, it is expected that the SED will tackle such major
bilateral problems as global current account imbalances, capital
market reform, China's growth strategy and exchange-rate policy,
trade reform, and energy and the environment.
Although short-term deliverables would be welcomed, we hope that
the SED will be able to bridge some of the disagreement on these
crucial issues and bring lasting reform that benefits our two
economies and our relationship in the long-run.
Q: As a representative of businesses in China,
what in your opinion should the Chinese government do to improve
the economic and investing environment?
A: Overall, we would like to see the Chinese
government continue the economic reforms that are leading to
enhanced rule of law, transparency and a more level playing field
for all businesses operating in China.
AmCham recently released its 2007 White Paper outlining
recommendations that both the US government and the Chinese
government could implement to assist US companies across a number
of different industries.
AmCham recognizes the progress that has been made in the
protection of intellectual property rights, but our members feel
that greater resources and attention need to be devoted to bolster
IPR enforcement and consumer awareness.
As we talk with our colleagues in Chinese business associations,
we find that our concerns and recommendations are quite
similar.
(China Daily May 23, 2007)