China firmly opposes any attempt to politicize trade issues,
Vice Premier Wu Yi said Wednesday.
"Politicizing trade issues will harm the interests of not just
one side, but both sides," Wu said at the opening ceremony of the
Third China-U.S. Strategic Economic Dialogue (SED) held in Beijing
on Dec. 12 and 13.
US Treasury Secretary
Henry Paulson shakes hands with Chinese Vice-Premier Wu Yi (L)
during the opening of The Third Strategic Economic Dialogue in
Xianghe, near Beijing, December 12, 2007.?
[Agencies]
"Thanks to accelerated economic globalization, the growing
China-U.S. business relations featuring interdependence, mutual
benefit and win-win progress have brought our two peoples
increasingly closer to each other," the Chinese vice premier
said.
"We all hope that both our economies will enjoy sustained growth
so as to create more opportunities to expand cooperation in the
interest of our respective development," she added.
"This is why we must not allow some interest groups to harm our
win-win business relations in pursuit of their selfish interests,"
she added.
Wu also expressed her concern over the 50 or so protectionist
China-related bills introduced in the U.S. Congress, saying that "I
need to be quite candid about this: If these bills are adopted,
they will severely undermine U.S. business ties with China."
U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, Secretary of Commerce
Carlos Gutierrez and Trade Representative Ambassador Susan Schwab
sent a joint letter to the U.S. Congress on July 30, rightly
pointing out these moves can only be "counter-productive."
About 160 U.S. multinational corporations and industry
associations, including Microsoft, Wal-Mart, Citibank and
Coco-cola, also sent a joint letter to the Congress on Sept. 26,
emphasizing the U.S. trade sanctions against China would only cause
negative impact rather than a positive one.
Wu said, "I hope that the U.S. administration, the Congress and
the media will heed the voice of the business community."
"I hope they will not lose sight of the larger interests of the
United States, follow the historical trend of economic
globalization, appreciate the importance of its overall relations
with China and the mutually beneficial nature of our business ties,
and pursue the right trade policy so as to enable our two peoples
to gain more from the continuous growth of China-U.S. business
relations," she added.
Handle issue of food safety in a creative
way
Wu Yi said China and the United States should properly address
new issues emerging in the course of the growth of bilateral
business ties, turn difficulties and challenges into opportunities
for cooperation and develop China-U.S. business ties in both depth
and width.
China-U.S. business relationship is the most complex one in
today's world owing to its huge scale, broad scope and the
extensive interests of various parties involved.
"This requires us to view this relationship from a strategic
height, demonstrate greater vision and courage, and adopt more
effective policy measures to handle in a creative way issues that
have occurred as our business ties expand," said the Chinese vice
premier.
"We should endeavor to turn difficulties and challenges into
opportunities for cooperation, and add new momentum to the growth
of our business relations," she added.
Wu took the issue of product quality and food safety as an
example, saying that "as economic globalization gathers momentum,
product quality and food safety have become a global issue."
This means that the countries concerned must increase
cooperation, assume their due responsibilities and strengthen
related mechanisms to ensure the quality and safety of people's
life, she said.
Before this round of the Dialogue, China and the United States
have signed the Memorandum of Agreement on Food and Feed Safety and
the Agreement on the Safety of Drugs and Medical Devices.
With regard to China-U.S. trade imbalance, Wu reiterated that
China has no intention to seek large trade surplus with the United
States, saying that "our policy is to maintain a basic balance in
international payments."
Wu said "to address China-U.S. trade imbalance requires the
concerted efforts of both sides," and called on the United States
to relax export control over export of high-tech products for
civilian use to China.
"This is in your own interest. China has been the fastest
growing export market for the United States for five years, and
there is great potential for increasing U.S. export to China," Wu
said.
She said China's policy toward the U.S. import is very clear,
and its door is wide open to American products. "The key is what
policy the United States should pursue. Whether the United States
can increase its export to China hinges on what policy it will
follow," she said.
(Xinhua News Agency December 12, 2007)
