SME Cooperation Forum

China-California Trade and Investment Cooperation Seminar Held in Beijing

Co-sponsored by Chinese Ministry of Commerce and the Government of the State of California, United States, Seminar on Trade and Investment Cooperation between Chinese Provinces and California, USA was held on April 10 in Beijing. Vice Minister of Commerce Wang Chao and California Governor Brown attended and addressed the Seminar.

Vice Minister Wang Chao said that trade and economic relations are the ballast and positive force for China-U.S. relations. In 2012,Sino-US bilateral trade volume reached US$484.7 billion; At present, United States' accumulated direct investment in China is over US$70 billion, while China's non-financial direct investment in the United States registered nearly US$ 10 billion. The expanded common interests made China and the United States become increasingly interdependent. China's deepening reform and opening up and transformation of economic development pattern, as well as US plan of double exports and “Choose USA” have brought about new opportunities for Sino-US economic and trade cooperation. The two countries should make efforts to expand common interests, properly handle the problems and differences in the process of cooperation, and create a good environment for the further development of bilateral economic and trade relations.

Vice Minister Wang Chao also said that local-level cooperation has become an important content of Sino-US economic and trade relations. For the implementation the consensus reached in Vice President Xi Jinping's visit to the United States in February last year, working team from China and US actively promote the establishment of a Joint Working Group on Investment and Trade Cooperation between Chinese Provinces and U.S. California State. California ranks first in the States in terms of economy, and enjoys exceptional advantages for cooperating with China. Inner Mongolia, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Shandong, Guangdong and Chongqing of China all have their own advantages, and most of them has established a sister-state or the sister cities relationship with California and are willing to promote the bilateral cooperation and seek common development in infrastructure, biomedicine, electronic information, agriculture, energy, manufacturing, tourism, environmental protection and exhibition.
California Governor Brown said that the two countries should strengthen cooperation for the benefit of all mankind. Especially, faced with climate change and uneven economic development, US and China should work together rather than working on its own. California has advantages in hi-tech, agriculture, biomedicine and low-carbon and environmental protection, while China is superior in the construction of high-speed railway and the production of solar and automotive battery. California would actively expand trade and investment cooperation with Chinese provinces and cities by adopt the platform of the joint working group.

At the Seminar, representatives from China and US signed Memorandum of Understanding on Establishing a Joint Working Group on Investment and Trade Cooperation between Chinese Provinces and U.S. California, and made discussions on strengthen mutually beneficial economic and trade cooperation. Entrepreneurs from the two countries also carried out commercial activities.

Chairman of the Chinese people’s association for friendship with foreign countries Li Xiaolin, Vice chairman of Inner Mongolia Bu Xiaolin, Vice Governor of Jiangsu province Fu Ziying, Vice Governor of Shandong province Xia Geng, Vice Mayor of Chongqing Chen Heping and representatives from Shanghai and Guangdong attended the Seminar and witnessed the signing ceremony. Nearly 500 representatives from Chinese and US Government, commercial associations and enterprises attended the activities.