Investment deal to boost bilateral and global trade

A high-standard Bilateral Investment Treaty is a tall order but essential for China and the US to emerge economically stronger from the current global slowdown.

No wonder, just hours after reaching the US on Sept 22, President Xi Jinping said the two countries must conclude such an agreement as soon as possible. This sense of urgency is justified by not only the huge economic challenges both countries have to overcome, separately or jointly, but also the huge benefits a boom in cross-border investment could bring about for the world's two largest economies as well as the rest.

China's entry into the World Trade Organization at the turn of the century expedited the country's rise as a global trading power to create millions of jobs for Chinese workers while lowering commodity prices for billions of consumers around the world.