Former official expects basic BIT agreement

A former Chinese vice-minister of commerce is predicting that China and the United States will reach a basic agreement on the long-awaited Bilateral Investment Treaty during President Xi Jinping's state visit to the US later this month.

The treaty is aimed at paving the way for unprecedented market access opportunities for companies and accelerate the recovery of the global economy.

In an exclusive interview with China Daily, Wei Jianguo, vice-chairman of the China Center for International Economic Exchanges, said: "It will mean a substantive leap in bilateral economic relationship, developing from goods trade to service trade and further into bilateral investment."