China US Photo:VCG

An economic and trade exchange between China and the US state of Maryland was held in Annapolis on Tuesday (local time), with both sides highlighting the importance of strengthening bilateral economic and trade exchanges and cooperation.

It was one of a series of activities during the ongoing visit of a business delegation in the US led by the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT). After the conclusion of the third plenary session of the 20th Communist Party of China Central Committee, the business communities of China and the US have enhanced exchanges, which is a good start for strengthening bilateral economic cooperation, and will inject more certainty into the world's economic recovery, experts said.

Ren Hongbin, chairman of the CCPIT, said during the exchange that the relationship between China and the US is one of the most important bilateral relationships in the world. As the world's two largest economies, the strengthening of cooperation will benefit both nations and the entire world.

Maryland Secretary of State Susan C. Lee welcomed the visit of the Chinese business delegation, noting that Maryland is willing to build a long-lasting friendship with China and strengthen economic and trade cooperation in many fields such as artificial intelligence, cyber technology, clean energy and agriculture, according to a statement on the website of CCPIT. 

Maryland has a long history of cooperation with China, having established a friendship with East China's Anhui Province as early as 1980. The year 1996 also saw the opening of the Maryland China Center in Shanghai, the first US state to establish a representative office in China.

"Maryland and the vast majority of US states have benefited from cooperation with China and desire to continue to promote cooperation with China," He Weiwen, a senior fellow at the Center for China and Globalization, told the Global Times on Wednesday.

On the same day, Ren met with US Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade Marisa Lago, with both sides calling for more economic and trade exchanges and enhancing cooperation.

Ren noted that the third plenary session made important arrangements to pursue high-standard opening-up, which will provide a rare opportunity for the business communities of China and the US to deepen cooperation. 

Considering the current status of China-US relations, the business communities of both countries need to meet, exchange views and cooperate more often. The CCPIT is willing to continue to strengthen cooperation with the US Department of Commerce to promote bilateral exchanges and cooperation among enterprises through the US-China Commercial Match-Making Program (CMP), Ren said.

The CCPIT will help US-funded enterprises better develop in China. It is hoped that the US side will also provide a fair, transparent and non-discriminatory business environment for Chinese-funded enterprises in the US, Ren noted.

Lago said that she highly valued the long-standing cooperative relationship with the CCPIT, emphasizing that most US-China trade is not affected by geopolitics. She agreed that the business communities of the two countries should strengthen the frequency of exchanges and cooperation, expressing her willingness to support the two sides to carry out more economic and trade exchanges through expanding cooperation with the CCPIT to further boost the CMP, according to a statement on the website of CCPIT. 


He Weiwen noted that the third plenum made systematic plans for further deepening reform comprehensively with an emphasis on pursuing high-standard opening-up, which sent positive signals to the US business community. 

The ongoing US visit marks the first Chinese business delegation to the US after the third plenum, and it is also a return visit for the three-day trip of a group of US senior executives to China, led by the US-China Business Council. 

"Frequent exchanges between the US and Chinese business communities show that China attaches great importance to cooperation with the US, actively stabilizes bilateral economic and trade relations, and has taken concrete actions," He said, noting that regardless of political tensions between the US and China, cooperation in the business community should be unwavering.