For growth and reform

The first round of China-US Strategic and Economic Dialogue that concluded on Tuesday in Washington offered a unique forum to promote understanding and enhance cooperation between the two countries. More importantly, it assured the world that the two countries would together fight the global downturn by coordinating their efforts to boost economic growth and transform growth patterns.

At a moment when the global economy is poised to move out of the crisis and towards recovery, such a strong and shared commitment by the world's largest developing economy and the biggest one is more than needed.

Thanks to massive stimulus measures and aggressive fiscal and monetary policy responses, the Chinese economy is rebounding strongly while the US economy is seeing more signs of green shoots. A GDP growth of 7.1 percent in the first half of this year bears testimony to the resilience of the Chinese economy. There are also indications, in a range of data, that the US economy may stop contracting soon.