China US Photo:VCG

Chinese Premier Li Qiang on Monday told a US business delegation that China-US relations and economic and trade cooperation currently face some difficulties, which require both sides to show sincerity and meet each other halfway, but the two countries can "absolutely achieve common development."

The Chinese premier reiterated that China will continue to open up its market, optimize the business environment and improve the protection and treatment of foreign businesses. The remarks further underscored China's determination to promote win-win cooperation, even as the US government continues to recklessly push for a decoupling, analysts noted.

Li met with the US business delegation led by Marc Casper, chair of the US-China Business Council (USCBC), in Beijing, during which he congratulated the council on its 50th anniversary and commended its role in helping promote bilateral cooperation, according to the Xinhua News Agency.

"China-US relations and economic and trade cooperation are facing some difficulties, which require both sides to show sincerity, meet each other halfway, and work together. China and the US absolutely can achieve common development and work together to make greater contributions to the bright future of all mankind," Li said.

For his part, Casper and other US business leaders said that the USCBC supports the development of healthy and stable bilateral relations and economic and trade cooperation between the two countries. The Chinese market is critical to enhancing the competitiveness of US businesses, they said.

The remarks highlighted both China's commitment to further opening its market for foreign businesses, including those from the US, and US businesses' great interest in investing in the Chinese market, despite the US' government's arbitrary decoupling moves, analysts noted.

"The US public and the business community still attach great importance to the Chinese market and are inclined to further deepen and expand China-US cooperation," Dong Shaopeng, a senior research fellow at the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at the Renmin University of China, told the Global Times on Monday.

However, Dong pointed out that US politicians' anti-China rhetoric and actions are also having a great impact on various fields, including the business community, as they face increasing difficulties in pursuing development and cooperation in the Chinese market.

Over the past several years, under the guise of various manufactured excuses such as "national security concerns," the US government has constantly intensified its decoupling campaign against China, in an attempt to contain China.

In one of the most recent moves, US President Joe Biden signed an executive order aimed at banning some new US investment in China in advanced technologies like computer chips and requiring government notification in other tech sectors. Chinese officials called the move "economic coercion" and vowed to take "necessary countermeasures" after a comprehensive assessment.

In stark contrast to the US' sweeping ban, China's door to opening-up will not be closed, but will only open wider and wider, and the vast Chinese market has huge growth potential and opportunities. China will continue to expand market access and optimize the business environment for foreign businesses, Li said.

Highlighting China's great market potential, Li on Monday also presided over a special study session focused on developing the digital economy, stressing that China has multiple advantages such as a super-large-scale market, massive data resources, and rich application scenarios, and the development of the digital economy has broad space. To further optimize business environment and ease the burden on businesses, Li has also signed a document to amend certain administrative rules, including lowering administrative fines in certain minor violations, starting on Monday when it was published.

Casper and other US personnel said that the USCBC welcomes signals of deepening reform and opening-up from the Chinese government, according to Xinhua.

It is important to "separate the US government from the US business community," as the former pushes for restrictions and confrontation, while the latter pursues commercial interests, He Weiwen, a senior fellow at the Center for China and Globalization, told the Global Times on Monday.

He said that China's responses should also be compartmentalized - opposing and countering US restrictions that violate WTO rules, while working to stabilize bilateral ties and further developing economic and trade cooperation.

"For economic and trade ties to continue to develop, the business community is a great basic force," he said, noting that it's crucial for all departments and localities to implement various policies and take concrete steps to address concerns from foreign businesses and improve the business environment.

Chinese officials, both at the central and local levels, have announced measures to stabilize foreign investment and have been actively meeting representatives from foreign businesses, including those from the US.

Also on Monday, Jin Zhuanglong, minister of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), had a meeting with a delegation led by Casper, during which he said that the MIIT attaches great importance to communication and cooperation with foreign-funded businesses and strives for a world-class business environment, according to an official statement.

Jin said that Chinese modernization will create more opportunities and greater development room for foreign businesses in China. "It is hoped that the USCBC will continue to help member companies take root in China, deepen investment cooperation in advanced manufacturing, green and low-carbon and other fields, and achieve mutually beneficial and win-win development," Jin said.

For his part, Casper praised the Chinese government's policy of further opening-up to the outside world and said that the USCBC, together with the US business community, will continue to play an active role in promoting the healthy and stable development of US-China economic and trade relations, according to the MIIT statement.