ICYMI: U.S. Chamber Comments on Strategic Economic Dialogue with China
This week, leaders from China and the United States completed the fifth round of the Strategic and Economic Dialogue, a bilateral meeting which addresses key economic questions between the two counties. Following it’s adjournment, Myron Brilliant, who is the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s executive vice president and head of International Affairs, issued the following statement:
“Secretaries Lew and Kerry, as well as Vice Premier Wang Yang and State Councilor Yang Jiechi, had an enormous task to accomplish over the last two days. They were charged with translating the visions of Presidents Obama and Xi, as expressed at last month’s Sunnylands Summit, into tangible outcomes that provide the basis for realizing the two presidents’ goals and fostering a more enduring bilateral relationship. Both governments worked hard to meet that challenge and produced important outcomes.
“Today, China provided important commitments to further bilateral relations with the United States, and we applaud both governments for their hard work. These important steps forward in investment negotiations have the potential to substantially increase two-way investment and thereby contribute to increased jobs, growth, and innovation in the two economies.
“We strongly support the Obama administration’s continued focus on state-owned enterprise challenges with China, and today’s outcomes constitute progress in what must be a continuing effort. We welcome incremental progress on the issues of government procurement and protection of trade secrets and other forms of intellectual property.
“While the Chamber appreciates the steps taken this week by the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), we will continue to monitor the auditing dispute between the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) and the CSRC, and note the importance of an agreement that creates a stable, transparent, and trusted mechanism for exchange of auditing papers between the two regulators.
“Finally, the Chamber agrees fully with Vice President Biden that cyber-enabled theft of intellectual property must stop. The issue is potentially destabilizing to the bilateral relationship. We are encouraged by this week’s discussions on cyber-enabled economic espionage, but the proof of progress will come only when the two governments agree that such behavior is a punishable crime, and implement a clear action plan to substantially reduce such theft emanating from China.”
