Fifth round of China-US S&ED nurtures fresh ties

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Fifth round of China-US S&ED nurtures fresh ties

Source:Globaltimes.cn Published: 2013-7-14 17:40:00

US President Barack Obama (5th from left) meets with Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang (4th from left) and State Councilor Yang Jiechi (2nd from left), both special representatives of Chinese President Xi Jinping, in Washington July 11, 2013. Photo: Xinhua

Editor's Note

China and the United States discuss a series of major issues of common concern during the 5th China-US Strategic and Economic Dialogue (S&ED) from July 10th to 11th in Washington. The issues include cyber security, Asia-Pacific cooperation, climate change, energy security, economic cooperation and other major international and regional affairs.

Latest News

Source: cntv.cn

90 agreements reached at China-US S&ED dialogue
"Over the past two days, we have had candid and in-depth exchanges on the overarching long-term and strategic issues concerning our two economies and the global economy, and reached nearly 90 important outcomes in macroeconomy, trade, investment, finance, and other areas. " Wang Yang, Chinese Vice Premier said.

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Signed articles

Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi published a signed article titled "US, China can forge a more cooperative relationship" in Washington Post ahead of his visit to the United States to attend the fifth China-US Strategic and Economic Dialogue in Washington.

Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang published a signed article titled "An Opportunity to Strengthen US-China Ties" in Wall Street Journal ahead of his visit to the United States to attend the fifth China-US Strategic and Economic Dialogue in Washington.

5th round of S&ED

Time	July 10-11, 2013
Location	Washington, US
Participants	Co-chaired by: Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang, State Councilor Yang Jiechi; US Secretary of State John Kerry, US Deputy Secretary of State William Burns and Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew Other participants: Senior officials from over 20 departments on each side
Topics	Relationship building Trade Energy Climate change Cyber security Asia Pacific cooperation. Other possible topics: military-to-military ties
Activities	A Joint Opening Session Strategic Track Economic Track The third Strategic Security Dialogue (SSD) The first meeting of the Cyber Working Group Sub-dialogues

Leaders' Voices

Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi	A new type of major power relationship should adhere to two principles. One is that the two sides should build the relationship in the spirit of building on foundations and common interests, and the other is that they should build the relationship in the spirit of mutual respect, and strive to obtain win-win results through cooperation.	Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang	Wang said on July 10 in his opening remarks that "Our job in this round is to turn the important agreements between the two presidents into tangible outcomes, and add substance to this new model of major country relationship."
US Deputy Secretary of State William Burns	William Burns, who took over from Secretary of State John Kerry to co-chair the meeting, said the two countries must look beyond the idea of historical conflict between rising and established powers, and recognize that dialogue and cooperation not only benefit the two countries themselves, but also the region and the entire world.	US Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew	At the concluding session of the S&ED, US Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew hailed real progress in the talks that will create new opportunities for US workers and companies in an expanding Chinese market.

Source: Xinhua - Global Times

Commentary

On the talks	Xinhua: New dialogue serves as first major step to build new-type China-US relationship This round of S&ED is regarded as significant because it will be the first chance for the newly-appointed senior officials from both governments to get to know each other and establish working relationships…Undeniably, the recent controversy over Edward Snowden, the whistleblower who exposed the US wide-ranging global surveillance and cyber spying operations, has complicated the situation to some extent.
On the talks	Chinausfocus.com: US-China S&ED needs more substance There should be more one-on-one meetings between American and Chinese officials responsible for similar portfolios. Such meetings will likely facilitate closer personal ties, more in-depth discussion of specific policy issues, better knowledge of each other's concerns, and early detection of potential problems in bilateral relations.
On Sino-US relations	^{Global Times: Sino-US relations dawn of a new era} With piles of challenging issues between the two nations, the future of the relationship is uncertain. China and the US may move away from the current strategic suspicion and caution toward mutual trust. It would be an unprecedented breakthrough in world politics, but it's also likely that the two will end up in a showdown due to mutual distrust.
On Sino-US relations	Xinhua: Key dialogue one step further in redefining China-US ties To achieve the noble goal with concrete actions, a candid and timely exchange of opinions on a full-range of major issues between the world's top two economies is badly needed. In that sense, this year's China-US strategic and economic dialogue has made a solid step further in that direction. More: Cui Tiankai, Chinese Ambassador in US Source: Embassy of People's Republic of China in the United States of America
On cyber security	Xinhua: Don't let cyber security overshadow key China-US dialogue While we can't deny that cyber security has emerged as a growing source of contention between the two countries, the problem was largely a product of Washington's dubious "cyber espionage" claims against China, and the issue shouldn't be hyped into something that would overshadow and obstruct talks on much more important issues between the two nations.
On cyber security	Jia Qingguo, international relations professor of Peking University The United States wants a quick solution to the problem and minimize its negative influence on US-China relations.But the key lies in how much progress the two countries will achieve in July's strategic and economic dialogue. If they can make notable progress, Snowden's adverse impact on bilateral relations will be repaired pretty soon.
On economic cooperation	Yukon Huang, a senior associate in the Asia Program of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace As China has a massive production capacity, while the US has the highest technology standards, Huang hopes the two sides can elevate cooperation on renewable green technologies to get their costs down to affordable levels.

Past S&ED

First round July, 2009	Agreed to establish the mechanism of China-US Strategic and Economic Dialogue. Full text of the joint fact sheet
Second round May, 2010	Signed many cooperative documents, including energy, the environment, technology, and enforcement of custom sanitation.
Third round May, 2011	Signed a framework of comprehensive economic cooperation to promote strong, sustainable and balanced growth, as well as beef up macroeconomic-policy communication and coordination.
Fourth round May, 2012	Reaffirmed the importance of fostering open, fair and transparent investment environments to domestic and global economy; pledged to schedule further negotiating rounds on the bilateral investment treaty.

Background of China-US Strategic and Economic Dialogue (S&ED)

The dialogue mechanism was upgraded from former Strategic Dialogue and biennial Strategic Economic Dialogue, which were initiated by the two heads of state in 2005 and 2006, respectively.

The two dialogues used to be separated and were first combined in 2009.

"Putting them together reflects the uniqueness of China-US relations."
-- Shi Yinhong, director of the Center on American Studies at the RUC

News Vocab

议题 yìtí
subject under discussion

贸易和投资合作将是本次经济对话的核心议题。
Trade and investment cooperation tops the agenda for this economic dialogue.

达成共识 dáchéng gòngshí
to achieve, reach a consensus; come to a consensus; clinch, reach an accord

随着中美两国领导人在越来越多的问题上达成共识，中美关系进入了自建交以来关系最佳状态。（Source: 新华网）
With Chinese and the US leaders finding consensus on an increasing number of issues, Sino-US relations are enjoying their best period ever since diplomatic ties were established.

Web editors: pangqi@globaltimes.com.cn; jinjianyu@globaltimes.com.cn

Posted in: Diplomacy