Chinese Vice-Premier Wu Yi, with US Secretary of Treasury Henry Paulson, co-chaired the second meeting of the Strategic Economic Dialogue (SED) from May 22nd to May 23rd, 2007.

During the two-day closed-door talks in Washington, top economic officials from the two countries, including dozens of cabinet ministers, discussed topics covering areas of service, investment and transparency, energy and environment, as well as growth balance and innovation.

China's central bank announced last Friday, May 18th, that it widened the band in which the yuan trades against the dollar to 0.5 percent, up from 0.3 percent. Beijing has also announced measures to reduce its trade surplus, such as reducing tax rebates and levying export taxes on more categories of polluting or resource-intensive products.

 In another development, a Chinese purchasing delegation headed by Vice-Commerce Minister Ma Xiuhong ended its mission in the United States with a procurement volume of "far exceeding expectations".

Ma said the final figure is expected to exceed $20 billion, which shows not only China's efforts to boost imports from the United States but also the potential for increasing such imports. The delegation, which arrived in the United States earlier this month, agreed to buy US machines, soybeans and technology products.

In an aviation agreement reached on Wednesday, May 23rd, daily passenger flights from the U.S. to China will double by 2012, and air cargo companies will have virtually unlimited access to Chinese market by 2011. 

Moreover, the two countries agreed to provide policy incentives to promote the full commercialization of advanced coal technologies and advance commercial use of carbon capture and storage technologies.

On the issue of the tourism industry, the two countries consented to launch negotiations to facilitate Chinese group leisure travel to the U.S.

"Allowing tourism companies to arrange trips for Chinese travelers to the United States is a significant step, given that one in seven jobs in the United States is related to the tourism industry," said the U.S. delegation in a statement.

The two countries also agreed to work together as part of the WTO Doha negotiations to discuss reducing or eliminating tariff and non-tariff barriers to environmental goods and services.

Moreover, the two countries will provide policy incentives to promote the full commercialization of advanced coal technologies and will advance commercial use of carbon capture and storage technologies.

The SED mechanism was initiated by President Hu and President Bush to serve as a platform for the two sides to discuss long-term and strategic issues in bilateral trade relationship. The dialogue convenes twice a year, in Beijing and Washington respectively.  

China and the U.S. held their first strategic economic dialogue last December, and the next or third SED will be held in Beijing in December. The dialogue mechanism has already become an important platform for the two nations to discuss long-term strategic and economic issues.  (Source: Xinhua news)