China, US should manage own affairs well first

BEIJING - Chinese Vice-Premier Wang Qishan said Thursday that China and the United States have to, first and foremost, manage their own affairs well amid a "complex and grim" world economic situation.

Wang made the remarks when addressing the opening session of the Economic Dialogue of the fourth round of China-US Strategic and Economic Dialogues, which kicked off Thursday in Beijing.

"We are glad to see the positive signs of recovery in the US economy and the steady and fairly fast growth of the Chinese economy. Our two sides need to assess the situation in a level-headed way," Wang said.

He urged more efforts from both sides to enhance coordination of macro-economic policies, work together to meet global challenges, and ensure economic growth and job creation in both countries so as to contribute to a strong and sustainable recovery of the world economy.

Wang noted that the Chinese and American economies are interdependent and highly complementary, and there are broad common interests between the two countries.

China and the US differ in national conditions and development stages and there exists a big gap between the two nations in terms of both soft and hard power, but they both face the arduous task of shifting growth pattern and adjusting economic structure, according to Wang.

China is implementing the 12th Five-Year Plan. It is endeavoring to strike the right balance between the speed of growth and the structure, quality and efficiency of the economy, he said.

"The US, is speeding up structural reform and implementing the National Export Initiative and the Select USA Initiative," he added.

Wang called on the two countries to make the most of the platform provided by the economic dialogue to enhance cooperation in trade, investment, finance, tourism, science and technology, infrastructure and clean energy and facilitate the all-round development of their cooperation at the local, business and other levels.

The vice-premier said the economic dialogue has served as an important platform for China and the US to enhance macro and strategic consultation and advance practical cooperation in the economic field.

"It has played an irreplaceable role in managing differences, deepening cooperation and promoting sound growth of our economic relations. Both Presidents have spoken highly of this mechanism," Wang said.

He said since the last round of dialogue, China has made positive progress in combating counterfeiting, protecting IPR, promoting software legalization and expanding imports. The US has also made a lot of efforts in facilitating Chinese companies' investment in the US and visa applications.

Wang said he hopes that the US side will take concrete steps to relax control on hi-tech exports to China, expand infrastructure cooperation, increase financial market access and avoid politicizing economic issues.

"The two sides should fully accommodate each other's concerns and work for more win-win outcomes to the benefits of our two peoples," he said.

He said he hopes the two sides will act in a constructive and cooperative spirit, and take this dialogue as an opportunity to enhance exchanges and mutual understanding and jointly promote the sustained and sound growth of China-US economic relations.