The 7th China-US business leaders' and former senior officials' dialogue was held on September 17-18 in Beijing. On September 17, General Secretary of the Communist Party of China and President Xi Jinping met with US representatives. Chinese and US representatives conducted the dialogue surrounding issues such as Chinese and US economic situations, Sino-US trade relations, the prospect of Sino-US investment treaty, innovation and revolutionary technology, G20 and global economic governance, international trade, finance and energy transition. The meeting formulated and issued “Joint Communiqué of the 7th China-US Business Leaders' and Former Senior Officials' Dialogue”. COFCO President Yu Xubo attended all sessions of the dialogue and delivered speeches at parallel sessions on two different issues and the plenary concluding session respectively.
Yu Xubo pointed out that in China the grain market is gradually opening up due to the surging demand for agricultural products, the national strategy of grain security and the policy of moderate import while in the United States advanced agricultural plantation techniques and mature agricultural policy system ensure the long-term stability of the supply of US agricultural products and the competitiveness of the price of agricultural products. However, the future of Sino-US trade in agricultural products is still beset by uncertainties since China and US’s agricultural policy formulation is at different stages and the two countries’ agricultural industries are still not aligned despite the enormous growth potential of bilateral trade in agricultural products. He suggested that more efforts should be made to align agricultural policy research with agricultural policy-making department and to establish links among industrial organizations as well as long-term efficient mechanism so as to promote further development of Sino-US trade in agricultural products.
Yu Xubo also expressed his viewpoints in the following aspects: establish a stabilization mechanism for the global commodities market and exercise effective control in terms of trade volume and price stability; unify food standards, increase clearance efficiency, and push forward the process of trade facilitation. He also hoped that the US side can improve the transparency of investment review process and provide fair treatment to Chinese enterprises intending to invest in the United States.
Chairman at China Center for International Economic Exchanges Zeng Peiyan, president and CEO of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Thomas J. Donohue, and fifteen representatives including business leaders, former senior officials and renowned scholars from China and the United States attended this round of dialogue.
