China-US cooperation deepens in various fields

Updated: 2015-06-20 20:22

(Xinhua)

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BEIJING - The seventh China-US Strategic and Economic Dialogue (S&ED) and the sixth China-US High-Level Consultation on People-to-People Exchange (CPE) will take place on June 22-24 in Washington.

Over the past few years, cooperation between the two countries has continuously deepened in such fields as high-level contact, economy and people-to-people exchanges with fruitful results achieved.

HIGH-LEVEL INTERACTION

At the invitation of US President Barack Obama, Chinese President Xi Jinping will pay a state visit to the United States in September this year.

It will be Xi's first state visit to the United States since he took over the presidency in 2013.

In November 2014, Obama paid a state visit to China after attending an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders' meeting in Beijing. The two sides reached, among others, a historic deal on climate change.

In June 2013, Xi and Obama met at an informal summit at the Annenberg Retreat, California, where they agreed on building a new type of major-country relationship.

In March 2014, on the sidelines of a nuclear security summit in The Hague, the Netherlands, the two leaders agreed to maintain close contact and jointly push for the new type of major-country relationship

In September 2013, the two leaders reaffirmed their commitment to bilateral cooperation in talks on the sidelines of a Group of 20 summit held in St. Petersburg, Russia.

ECONOMIC COOPERATION

As the world's two largest economies, the United States and China are increasingly economically interdependent, with their trade volume hitting 550 billion US dollars last year.

China and the United States are the second largest trade partner to each other. US investment in China has amounted to nearly 100 billion dollars, while Chinese investment in the United States has also been growing.

Talks on a bilateral investment treaty have been accelerated, and the negative-list negotiation also started in 2015, as both countries seek to increase mutual investment, which only accounts for a tiny share of their overseas investment.

The upcoming S&ED is a high-level dialogue that serves as the flagship in the various dialogue mechanisms the two countries have developed. On the economic track, the two sides will have in-depth discussions on such topics as macroeconomic policy-making, trade, investment and financial reform.

PEOPLE-TO-PEOPLE EXCHANGE

The CPE, along with the S&ED, is among more than 90 dialogue mechanisms between China and the United States. It has become the most important regular platform to deepen bilateral people-to-people exchanges and cement understanding between Chinese and US citizens.

As a main program of the CPE, the biennial China-US Cultural Forum, which has been held since 2008, has helped promote understanding and strengthen ties between the Chinese and US people. The fourth edition was held in Washington in April.

In December 2014, China and the United States launched a new fellowship initiative aimed at sponsoring 15 to 20 American professionals interested in Chinese culture and China-related work to visit and study in China every year through 2024.

The initiative is one of the latest additions to the programs under the CPE.

MILITARY EXCHANGE

In the military sphere, China and the United States agreed in 2014 on establishing a new type of military relations to match the new type of major-country relationship between them.

The defense departments of the two countries have signed memorandums of understanding on establishing a mutual reporting mechanism on major military operations and a code of safe conduct on naval and air military encounters.

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