Dialogue prevailed again in key Sino-U.S. talks, resulting in a
series of agreements by Tuesday afternoon to deepen collaboration
on contentious issues such as product safety, energy and
environmental protection.
Chinese Vice Premier Wu Yi called this one-day closed-door 18th
Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade "substantial" and "evidence
of sincere goodwill from both sides to resolve economic and trade
issues through peaceful consultation."
The successful outcome of Tuesday's meeting established a
positive tone for the third China-U.S. Strategic Economic Dialogue,
which is to start on Wednesday, and provided a forceful boost to
trade development, she said.
Product safety, an issue that has sparked many disputes since
spring, appeared to have dominated the agenda on Tuesday, since
three of the 14 agreements and memoranda agreed upon involved
methods to boost safety cooperation on drugs, medical devices, food
and feed, alcohol and tobacco.
Implementation of the agreement will begin with a determined
list of products, such as preserved foods, pet food and pet treats
of plant origin or animal origin, raw materials used in making
manufactured foods and farm-raised fish, the U.S. Department of
Health and Human Services (HHS) said in a statement after signing
of the agreement on food and feed safety.
To better contain and resolve safety problems, the HHS and
China's General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection
and Quarantine will adopt new registration and certification
requirements so as to trace products from the source of production
or manufacture to the point of exploration.
The parties also commit to notify the other within 48 hours of
the emergency of significant risks to public health related to
product safety, recalls, and other situations. In the past, there
was no system of notification.
A working group will be created within 60 days to develop a plan
that further details specific activities each will undertake to
implement the agreement, and to establish performance measures to
evaluate progress. The two sides also agreed to facilitate travel
of Chinese tourist group to the United States, establish a forum on
environmental protection technology and industrial cooperation and
work more closely in the areas of agricultural science and
technology and the development of bio-fuels.
In apparent efforts to address the trade imbalance, the Chinese
and American delegations have signed the guidelines for high
technology and strategic trade development.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez called the guidelines a
"positive step forward" to achieve the mutual benefits of promoting
U.S. high technology exports to China. But commerce authorities of
both countries will continue to review U.S. dual-use policy to
identity and implement appropriate processes to streamline the
licensing process for legitimate civilian trade.
The guidelines also recognize the critical role of end-use
visits in ensuring the protection of U.S. national security
interests in the enhancement of high technology trade.
Gutierrez and Wu Yi warned Tuesday morning about the rise of and
dangers from protectionist forces, and both expressed hope that the
annual meeting and the following two-day strategic economic
dialogue would have a commitment to openness.
"The way that we want to reduce our deficit is by exporting
more, not by reducing imports," Gutierrez said.
The latest figures from Chinese Customs show that between
January and November, China-U.S. trade expanded 15.7 percent from
the same period of last year to 276.21 billion U.S. dollars.
In November, China's imports from the United States rose 17.7
percent to 6.525 billion U.S. dollars while its exports to the
latter grew only 15.1 percent -- but still to 21.7 billion U.S.
dollars.
"China has been the fastest-growing export market for the United
States for five straight years," Wu said at the opening ceremony,
forecasting that China would be the third-largest importer of U.S.
goods this year, after Canada and Mexico.
The Chinese top trade official, who told the media she would
retire next year, said she sincerely hoped that relevant agencies
from both sides would fully implement the broad consensus reached
at the meeting, expand cooperation, iron out disparities and work
more closely for a brighter future for China-U.S. economic and
trade relations.
Wu used stronger terminology to criticize the "unharmonious
notes" in China-U.S. trade ties, marked by what she described as a
sharp rise in the number of U.S. Congressional actions against
China, the politicization of economic and trade issues, tighter
controls on certain types of exports to China and what she termed
the purposeful exaggeration of China's food and product safety
practices.
"These have seriously damaged the reputation of China-made
products and the image of China," she said.
In April, the Bush administration, under pressure from Congress
over trade with China, took action at the World Trade Organization
(WTO) against China over copyright piracy and market access
barriers against American books, music and movies.
Last month, the WTO decided to set up an expert panel to
investigate the alleged Chinese restrictions.
"China is a responsible developing nation, not only in terms of
the protection of intellectual property rights, but also improving
product quality and balancing foreign trade. Our attitudes are
clear-cut and our actions are resolute," she said.
Market confidence in China-made products improved after the
Chinese government launched a broad, four-month national campaign
with a special leading team to raise awareness of product quality.
The government also moved to crack down on producers of counterfeit
and sub-standard goods.
Customs figures revealed that Guangdong, China's major toy
production base, exported toys valued at 4.94 billion U.S. dollars
in the first 10 months, up 22.9 percent over the same period last
year. About 79 percent were exported to the United States and the
European Union. Toys were one of the product categories involved in
quality and safety controversies.
The southern coastal province accounts for 70 percent of the
Chinese toys made for export and about half of the world's toy
production.
Wu urged both sides to be far-sighted, to think strategically
and to facilitate consultation and collaboration.
"Imposing restrictions on normal trade or resorting to
protective measures will be only be detrimental to the interests of
both sides and useless in resolving problems," she said.
Dismissing concerns that China would narrow the scope of its
opening-up policies, Wu reiterated that the country would not
change its stance on the broader use of foreign capital. "China's
door has been and will be resolutely opened to the outside world,"
she said.
The China-U.S. Strategic Economic Dialogue, launched by Chinese
President Hu Jintao and his U.S. counterpart George W.
Bush, in September 2006, will last two days this year.
It will focus on six long-term topics: the challenges of
globalization, trade integration, balanced economic development,
the economic impact of energy choices, economic growth and
sustainability and bilateral investment.
(Xinhua News Agency December 12, 2007)
