http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2012-05/04/content_15210235.htm
Clinton tells Hu that China-US ties strong
2012-05-04
BEIJING - US Secretary of State Hillary of Clinton told Chinese
President Hu Jintao on Friday that relations between their two countries were
the strongest they had ever been.
US
Secretary of State Hillary of Clinton shakes hands with Chinese President Hu Jintao
during a meeting at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Friday.
"We believe that
the China US relationship is stronger than it's ever
been," Clinton
said during a meeting at the Great Hall of the People.
"We have
developed a very open and honest relationship where we can discuss our
differences, and we remain committed to bridging those differences whenever and
wherever possible."
Hu stresses
partnership at China-US dialogue
Updated: 2012-05-04
By Li Xiaokun and Hu
Yuanyuan in Beijing and Tan Yingzi in Washington, China
Daily
President Hu Jintao
welcomes US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner at the opening session of the
China-US Strategic and Economic Dialogue in Beijing
on Thursday as US
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Vice-Premier Wang Qishan look on. Xu
Jingxing / China
Daily
Beijing and
Washington must set their own destiny, president says
President Hu Jintao
on Thursday called on China
and the United States
to escape from the outdated thinking that major powers are predestined to
engage in conflict.
Hu also said that the
two countries should seek new ways to enhance their relations in remarks he
made at the opening session of the China-US Strategic and Economic Dialogue in Beijing.
"Whatever
changes may take place in the world, and no matter how the domestic situations
in our two countries may evolve, China
and the US
should be firmly committed to advancing a partnership of cooperation," Hu
said.
They should also
strive to build new relations to reassure people from China and the United States and across the world,
he said.
"We should,
through creative thinking and concrete action, prove that the traditional
belief that big powers are bound to enter into confrontation and conflict is
wrong and seek new ways of developing relations between major countries in the
era of economic globalization," he said.
The president also
called for the US and China
to respect each other's concerns and warned that any worsening of relations
posed "grave" risks for the world.
"Given the
different national conditions, it is impossible for China
and the US
to see eye-to-eye on every issue," the president said.
The fourth round of
the dialogue started Thursday morning in Beijing.
Vice-Premier Wang
Qishan and State Councilor Dai Bingguo joined US Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner to co-chair the annual talks on
economic policies and major international issues.
Ministerial-level
officials from more than 20 government agencies, from both countries, attended
the gathering. Foreign policy, climate change, energy security, Sudanese
tension and security in Southeast Asia, were
among the issues discussed.
Clinton read a letter from US President Barack
Obama at the opening ceremony. She also stressed, in her speech, that although Beijing and Washington
cannot solve all the problems of the planet, no major problem would be settled
without their cooperation.
The importance
Chinese and US leaders attached to the dialogue indicates both countries have
realized that lack of trust is a serious problem, Niu Xinchun, a specialist on
American studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said.
Qu Xing, director of
the China Institute of International Studies, said the scale of the talks this
year has been narrowed due to the US election.
"However, it has
still brought half of the Obama administration's senior officials to China. No other
dialogue in the world can compare with it," he said.
Kenneth Lieberthal,
director of the John L. Thornton China Center at the Brookings Institution,
said that the annual meeting takes place in a very political year, both in the
US and China. "The real objective, at this point, is to prevent bad things
from occurring but not to make major progress in the relationship."
He also noted that
this is the last meeting of the four co-chairs. "At least three of the
four will not be in their offices next year, so that will also give this
meeting a kind of wrap-up style," he said. "We should begin the
process to review the structure and dynamics of the dialogue and see if some
modifications should be made."
David Lampton,
director of the China Studies Program at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced
International Studies, Johns Hopkins University, said the meeting had come at a
critical time.
"The US-China
relationship is overloaded. It's like a truck and more and more keeps getting
loaded on," he said.
"This is
probably the most complicated period I've seen since 1979."
The London-based
Financial Times said in an online editorial on Thursday that the world is in
urgent need of cooperation between Beijing and Washington.
Yuan flexibility
The US government welcomed Beijing's move in April to widen the daily
trading band within which the yuan is allowed to fluctuate from 0.5 percent to
1 percent.
But it didn't go far
enough and create a market-driven exchange rate, AP cited an unnamed senior
official with Geithner's delegation as saying on Thursday.
Chinese officials,
however, believed that the yuan was not undervalued.
"Given that China's global trade is basically balanced while
running a surplus with the US
shows the exchange rate plays a minimal role in trade," said Minister of
Commerce Chen Deming.
China reported a $5.3 billion surplus in March,
down from a monthly level of at least $15 billion for most of 2011, statistics
from the General Administration of Customs showed.
According to central
bank governor Zhou Xiaochuan, the renminbi did have room for appreciation when China
had a big current account surplus few years ago.
"But now the
surplus has largely shrunk, and the market's expectation for yuan appreciation
has also changed," Zhou said.
China's current account surplus dropped to about
2.8 percent of GDP in 2011 from over 10 percent in 2007.
"If there is an
imbalance in the exchange rate, the market has the power to correct it,"
Zhou said.
The exchange rate for
the renminbi reached a new high against the US dollar on Wednesday, hitting
6.2670, according to the central parity rate for the yuan set by the People's
Bank of China.
Contact the writers
at lixiaokun@chinadaily.com.cn, huyuanyuan@chinadaily.com.cn and tanyingzi@chinadailyusa.com
Xinhua, AFP, Zhou Wa in Beijing and Ma Liyao in New York contributed to this story.
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