Sub-National Contacts Deepen China-U.S. Relations.doc

1、 1 Sub-National Contacts Deepen China-U.S. Relations DURING President Hu Jintao s state visit to theU.S. in January, China and the U.S. signed theMemorandum of Understanding on EstablishingChina-U.S.Governors Forum to Promote Sub-nationaI Cooperation. The memorandum supports the establishment of a C

2、hina-U.S. Governors Forum by the ChinesePeoples Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries(CPAFFC) and the National Governors Association (NGA)of the U.S. This forum aims to provide an important platform of communication between U.S state governors andprovincial governors in China, and advanc

3、e practical cooperation in trade, investment, energy, environment, cultureand other fields. Direct Dialogue Between Sub-national Leaders The China-U.S. Strategic and Economic Dialogue is a forumfor national governments, while the China-U.S. GovernorsForum is a coinmunication platform for local gover

4、nments.Li Xiaolin, vice president of the CPAFFC, remarked, “As anon-governmental organization, the CPAFFC has conductedmany exchanges with U.S. 2 organizations such as the SouthernGovernors Association and the Midwestern Governors Association and established some long-term partnersbips. ThisChina-U.

5、S. Governors Forum covers a wide range of fields forcooperation at quite a high level. Given direct communication,the two sides can discuss emerging problems, which is a winwin situation for both countries. There are lots of differencesbetween the two in history, culture and politicalsystems. With t

6、he development of its economy,China has got much closer to the world, whichprompts us to look for common ground withother countries. How to go about this? Peopleto-people exchange provides a way. This gubernatorial contact mechanism is an innovation,providing a platform for U.S. governors to conlmun

7、icate with their counterparts in China in amore direct and effective way.“ On February 26, Zhon Qiang, secretary ofthe CPC Hunan Provincial Committee, and LiXiaolin attended the signing ceremony to launchthe forum in Washington. Hunan Province has established sister province/state or sister city tie

8、s with 11 Americancities and states. In recent years, five U.S.based corporations listed in the world s top 5oocompanies have invested in Hunan. “As far asHunan is concerned, in cooperation with U.S.states and cities, our top priority is to bring Hunans industrial advantages into full play, andmeanw

9、hile advance the 3 development of our hitech industry by learning from U.S experienceand success in this field. Specifically, we hope industries likemanufacturing, auto making and wind power generation expand their cooperation with states in the U.S. We also wish topush forward the development of su

10、ch industries as electronicinformation, energy and new materials by learning from American experience with pushing the development of their hi-techindustry, and in developing electronic information, smart gridand new energies,“ said Zhou Qiang. During his stay in the U.S., Zhou attended the NGA Wint

11、er Meeting, and held bilateral talks with six state governors.Zhou confirmed, “We signed a memorandum of cooperationwith Nevada, and reached agreement on advancing cooperation in such fields as education, economy, trade, science andtechnology, culture and tourism with five other states, achieving co

12、ncrete results. Hunan will send business delegations tothose states, by invitation of their governors. The governorsalso indicated their intention to visit Hunan to promote business-to-business communication and strengthen cooperationin the field of education.“ According to Reta Jo Lewis, special re

13、presentative for globalintergovernmental affairs at the State Department, prior to thesetting up of the China-U.S. Governors Forum, 4 communicationbetween local governments of both sides had been ongoing for10 years. In 2010 alone, there were more than 11o exchangevisits between various levels of lo

14、cal governments. To date,twinning arrangements have been made between 36 stateprovince pairs and 161 city pairs. Despite the frequency of local government exchanges, thecommunications were often one-off, irregular and lacking afixed platform and mechanism. The China-U.S. Governors Forum will provide

15、 that, so that regular communications betweenlocal governments of our two countries can be realized. Li Xiaolin said, “We hope to promote cooperation and enhance mutual understanding between local governments viathis platform. For the first session of the China-U.S. GovernorsForum, taking place in U

16、tah in July, we will invite five provincial Party secretaries and governors representing differentparts of China. Many governors, from eastern coastal areas towestern inland regions alike, have expressed an interest in being there.“ “We d Iike to highlight several topics from among the manyhot issue

17、s of common concern, like employment, education,medical care, economic cooperation and complenlentarity.Well discuss details with the NGA so as to make the forum asuccess. Next year we hope to welcome a visit by U.S. governorsorganized by the NGA and make 5 the forum an annual event.This platform wi

18、ll allow both sides to communicate effectivelyabout common concerns, which will benefit both Chinas development and U.S. economic recovery,“ sh e added. Victims of Trade Friction Lobby U.S. Congress President Obama declared on September 11, 2009 that theU.S. would take special protection measures ag

19、ainst tires imported from China. The original tariff of 4 percent would besubject to additional tariffs over the next three years: 35 percentin the first year, 30 percent in the second and 25 percent in thethird. This would spell the disappearance of Chinese tires fromthe U.S market. According to pr

20、eliminary statistics gathered by the ChinaRubber Industry Association, withdrawal of Chinese tires fromthe U.S. market would affect the jobs of about 100,000 Chinese workers. But Chinese enterprises would not be the only ones to suffer.There are more than 200 commission agents and over 43,000retaile

21、rs in the U.S. engaged in the business of importing tiresfrown China, with about 100,000 jobs generated. Once the U.S.shut the door on Chinese-made tires, the result would be American lay-offs. Since the introduction of the measure Guangzhou SouthChina Tire 6 its president Gong Jinwen alsojoined the

22、 “truth-telling“ delegation in April 2010. Huanjie is a share-holding company established by GongJinwen with seven of his former schoolmates. It was the fourthChinese enterprise, and also the first Chinese private enterprise,to win certification from the American Petroleum Institute (API).It had sta

23、rt-up capital of just US $2,000, but now has assetsworth US $30 million and 2,000 employees. Huanjie exports 40 percent of its drill pipes to the U.S. and supplies nearly all of theworlds oil companies. Huanjie is one of a host of Chinese privateenterprises 8 since Chinas accession to the WTO to gro

24、w rapidlyby learning Western market rules. “Twelfth Washington Street-I remember it clearly. For ninewhole days we made no progress and I was desperately anxious,“said Gong. “On day 10, I got to meet with the API President.Hearing my views, he told me I was the first Chinese entrepreneur to come the

25、re to lodge a complaint on his own initiative.“The next day, the AFI gave a hearing especially for Gong ,linwen.One month later, Gongs company regained AIP certification. “In Washington D.C., lobbying is known as Washington s topindustry, and the lobbying system is very mature. If you use thesystem

26、right it can be amazingly effective,“ said Li Xiaolin. When the delegation returned to China, Gong Jinwen remained behind and, together with his company s Americanlawyers, continued to communicate and negotiate with suchinstitutions as the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC)and the U.S.-China

27、Business Council. Gongs company has sincewon the chance to challenge for special case treatment on thetariff, which will mitigate the losses it incurred due to the tradedispute. This example fully manifests the importance of face-toface communication between the industries of our two countries. Acco

28、rding to Li, of the six congressmen the Chinese 9 “trnthtelling“ delegation met in April 2010, only one had ever visitedChina, and that was back in 1985; the rest had never been andknew little about China s development. However, all six attached high importance to U.S.-China relations and indicatedt

29、heir intention to intensify trade cooperation. Unfortunately,they were ignorant of the true nature of Chinese enterprises,and just stuck obstinately to the line that Chinese exports wereinjurious to U.S. employment and its economy. At the sametime, those congressmen openly admitted the U.S.-China tr

30、adedispute served the needs of U.S. politicians as mid-term elections approached; trade issues were inevitably caught up indomestic politics, Li and members of the delegation repeatedly argued, “It isChinas private enterprises that are bearing the brunt of U.S.trade sanctions, and these private ente

31、rprises are China s emerging economic units-beneficiaries of free competition and thelaws of the market economy. In other words, the U.S. government is adopting methods that violate the principle of free competition to harm the beneficiaries of the free market principle.“ “We hold the opinion that t

32、rade issues should not be politicized,“ said Li. “But trade friction will harm the essential contentof bilateral relations and both sides will end up getting hurt. TheChinese market is very important for the U.S. I quoted 10 PresidentBush senior spealdng at a seminar on U.S,-China relations to theef

33、fect that what can truly hurt the bilateral relations are trade disputes, which fundamentally damage the interests of bothpeoples. The U.S. representatives agreed with this point.“ “There is wide recognition that China-U.S. bilateral relations are important,“ Li continued. Congressman Geoff Davisexp

34、ressed his opinion that in the next 100 years, the U.S. andChina would be the worlds superpowe rs. Although he had notbeen to China, he had worked in Africa and was impressedby the parliament buildings and hospitals China constructedthere. Congressman John Yarmuth remarked that the bilateralrelation

35、s should advance in a mutually beneficial direction.He had been told by the president of the fast food giant KFC inhis constituency that KFCs brisk development owed much tothe burgeoning Chinese market. Congressman Dave Reiehertsaid Washington State is the only American state to have atrade surplus with China. It is home to many big corporationssuch as Microsoft and Boeing that have dose ties with China,so healthy U.S.-China economic and trade relations will be ofgreat significance for that northwestern state. Giving Americans the Facts