Economy

US should not discriminate Chinese investment

(Peopledaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2011-05-11 14:41

China's commerce minister called the United States government not to discriminate direct investments from China, contending US' profiling and screening of Chinese investment proposals "neither fair nor transparent".

"We hope the United States can treat Chinese investment, including by State-owned enterprises, in a fair manner," said Commerce Minister Chen Deming at the conclusion of the Third China-US Strategic & Economic Dialogue in Washington D.C..

Meanwhile, Chinese trade experts say that as Beijing has already amassed $1.2 trillion of US government debt, it is time for Obama administration to approve more Chinese business investment in American, which also benefits employment and economic growth in US.

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Meanwhile, Chinese Vice-Premier Wang Qishan and United States Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on Thursday signed a broad pact setting out a framework for future cooperation on trade and investment.

US Treasury Department officials said the document covered four areas that the two countries regard as priorities for cooperation, on macroeconomic issues, financial services, trade and investment and international cooperation.

Wang and Geithner signed the document on the final day of the Strategic and Economic Dialogue talks in Washington. The annual two-day round of talks brings together leaders on economics, foreign policy and security.

US President Barack Obama met the Chinese delegation after Monday's deliberations. He encouraged China to implement policies to support "balanced global growth as well as a more balanced bilateral economic relationship."

Geithner also praised China's efforts, which include a decision last June to resume allowing the yuan to rise in value against the dollar after freezing the currency's value for two years during the height of the financial crisis.

The yuan has risen by about 5 percent against the dollar since last June when China re-launched its effort to liberalize the formation of its currency, the yuan's formation regime. Geithner urged China to allow its currency to appreciate at a faster rate, so as to benefit American manufacturers who wish to export more to China, the world's second largest economy.

China's Commerce Minister Chen Deming, however, blamed US policies for the ballooning trade gap. He said at a news conference that China's currency appreciation was being carried out in a "very healthy manner," and the US needed to change its own policies on restricting high-tech sales to China and cap investment from China, as a way to spur American manufacturing.

The Chinese trade minister took aim at the US' strict and discriminative screening of Chinese investment plans in America, contending it was neither fair nor transparent.

Most recently, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US rejected a takeover by private Chinese technology giant Huawei of a small computer company, 3Leaf, on so-called American national security concerns.

"We hope the United States can treat Chinese investment, including by state-owned enterprises, in a fair manner," the Chinese minister said.