Washington — The third round of the U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue will be held in Washington May 8–10, with the focus on a broad range of issues, including trade, currency rates, North Korea and Iran, cooperation on counterterrorism, climate change, intellectual property rights and innovation, senior U.S. officials say.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner will be joined for the dialogue by the Chinese co-chairs, Vice Premier Wang Qishan and State Councilor Dai Bingguo. In addition, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and China’s central bank governor Zhou Xiaochuan will hold talks, and senior military representatives from the Pentagon and Beijing are also expected to meet.
The dialogue was initiated by President Obama and Chinese President Hu Jintao in 2009.
“The objective of the Strategic and Economic Dialogue is to bring together across both governments the right people at the right level to talk about, engage and make progress on issues of concern to both countries,” says Treasury’s David Loevinger, who is senior coordinator and executive secretary for the dialogue. “We will discuss these challenges candidly but constructively with our Chinese counterparts.”
Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell said at a May 5 briefing with Loevinger that efforts will be made for Clinton and Dai to address a range of issues that begin with regional security, such as where efforts stand with the Six-Party Talks and North Korea over its nuclear weapons development program, joint efforts on trying to convince the Iranian regime to also forgo its efforts to develop nuclear weapons, and issues in Sudan and elsewhere.
The dialogue will bring a number of federal agencies into the discussions with their Chinese counterparts to more effectively tackle issues such as energy security, development and food assistance, Campbell told reporters. Coupled with these talks are meetings between military leaders from both countries.
“I think our goal here is to create greater understanding around issues that have the potential for miscalculation and inadvertence in our relationship, and I think we all recognize that these security issues are increasingly important in the smooth management of our relationship going forward,” Campbell said.
Loevinger said the United States would press China to let its currency exchange rate adjust at a faster pace to correct its still substantial undervaluation. He noted that 18 months ago China’s exchange rate was frozen, and since June 2010 it has appreciated by about 5 percent against the U.S. dollar, and at an annual rate of about 10 percent after accounting for China’s higher inflation rate.
Geithner told the U.S.-China Business Council May 3 that “over the past two years, we have seen the beginning of promising shifts in the economic policy in China that have the potential to benefit China, the United States and the world as a whole.”
Geithner also said that for many years China built an economic strategy that depended on exports. But today, he told business leaders, China is committed to transforming its economy into one where growth is generated primarily through domestic demand. China has committed in the Group of 20 advanced economies to reducing future external trade imbalances.
The Chinese, for their part, are expected to want continued access to U.S. markets, greater access to U.S. high-technology exports, recognition as a market economy and new investment opportunities for Chinese businesses in the United States, Loevinger said.
“The United States welcomes investment from China,” Geithner said. “And Chinese investment in the United States is growing rapidly. A recent survey suggests Chinese investors see America as one of the most attractive markets in the world and one of the easiest in which to do business.”
“We are willing to continue to make progress on these and other issues that matter to China, but our ability to do so depends on how much progress we see from China on the issues that matter most to us,” Geithner added.
The United States will have 16 agency executives participating in the two days of talks. They include Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, Labor Secretary Hilda Solis and Securities and Exchange Chairman Mary Schapiro. China will be represented by about 20 agencies in economic affairs, eight at the agency chief level, including Finance Minister Xie Xuren, Minister of Science and Technology Wan Gang and Commerce Minister Chen Deming.