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New chapter with 'partnership'

Updated: 2011-01-21 10:52

(China Daily European Weekly)

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 New chapter with 'partnership'

President Hu Jintao shakes hands with US President Barack Obama on Jan 19 in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington. Evan Vucci / Associated Press

China-US relations based on mutual respect and benefit

President Hu Jintao and US President Barack Obama pointed out a future bilateral relationship of cooperative partnership based on mutual respect and benefit, as the two countries reached a crossroad in their ties.

On the second day of Hu's four-day state visit to the United States, Obama greeted the Chinese leader with the warmest welcome ceremony at the South Lawn of the White House on a golden winter morning, joined by dozens of cheerful young American students and excited Chinese Americans.

In "a candid, pragmatic and constructive atmosphere", Hu said the two leaders discussed pushing forward the positive, cooperative and comprehensive relationships they mapped out during Obama's state visit to China in 2009.

Bilateral ties saw periods of tension last year when both sides disagreed on a series of issues, including the US arms sales to Taiwan, Obama's meeting with the Dalai Lama, Chinese currency reform, Chinese trade policies and regional security.

Hu and Obama met the press after their talks and addressed the importance of the bilateral relationship, recognizing the common ground and disagreements and detailed plans to strengthen ties.

They touched on major topics such as currency, trade policy, military ties, Taiwan questions and human rights as well as global challenges in nuclear nonproliferation, climate change and global economic recovery.

The two sides decided to continue working toward a partnership that "advances common interest, address shared concerns and highlights international responsibilities", a joint statement said.

In the joint statement issued on Jan 19, the US sought to assuage China's worries over its holdings of US debt, while China attempted to placate the US on intellectual property rights and the large trade surplus.

To pacify China's unease over the safety of its holdings of US treasury bonds, the US stated that it will "focus on reducing its medium-term federal deficit and ensuring long-term fiscal sustainability, and will maintain vigilance against excess volatility in exchange rates".

Still, the US has been clamoring over its large trade surplus with China. The Chinese government promised in the joint statement to "intensify efforts to expand domestic demand, to promote private investment in the service sector, and to give greater play to the fundamental role of the market in resource allocation".

The two countries are engaged in bilateral investment treaty negotiations to establish the terms for private investment by companies from the US in China and vice versa, with this type of investment usually considered as a foreign direct investment.

All registered businesses in China are enjoying equal treatment, Hu said as he met Obama at the White House with Chinese and American business leaders from Microsoft, Goldman Sachs, Motorola, GE, Coca-Cola, Boeing, The Carlyle Group as well as Lenovo, China Investment Corp, Wanxiang Group and Haier.

"The Chinese government protects intellectual property rights of all registered businesses in China and will not link its innovation policies to the provision of government procurement preferences," Hu said.

While China wants Chinese businesses to invest in the US, Hu said he hoped the Obama administration will provide a fair environment for Chinese firms.

In their meeting, Obama said the US and China has a lot of potential in developing economic and trade relations.

Exports to China from the US will continue to rise in 2011, Chinese Commerce Minister Chen Deming said on Jan 19, thanks to Beijing's incentives for imports.

The White House announced on Wednesday that China will purchase $45 billion in US exports, including a $19 billion deal for 200 Boeing airplanes. China will also invest in US exports from agriculture, telecommunications and technology companies, including General Electric, Honeywell and Navistar. The White House said the deals will support up to 235,000 jobs in the US.

Chen told journalists that he wants the US government to move further in its exports regime reform. China will review its trade policies and formulate measures to promote imports, with particular attention on economies with trade deficits with China, such as the US and some European Union members, he said.

While Beijing and Washington hold a summit this week, politicians and observers in Brussels are opening their ears to catch the lyrics and hopefully follow the melody.

"For Europe and especially the eurozone, there will be attention focused on the two major powers to display solidarity in leading the search to address both their bilateral difficulties and global problems," said David Fouquet, director of the Brussels-based Asia-Europe Project Information Service.

Fouquet's expectations are understandable. At the heart of globalization has been the emergence of fast-growing economies like Brazil, India, and, above all, China.

Meanwhile, the sentiment in Brussels is that the EU is in decline, especially after the Copenhagen climate summit at the end of 2009.

Commenting on Hu's meeting with Obama, Fouquet said any agreements could have tremendous repercussions on the stability of the eurozone and the risk of contagion to other partners.

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