China and the US conclude Special Economic Dialogue

China and the US concluded their strategic economic dialogue (SED) on Wednesday in Washington DC. Vice-Premier Wu Yi, who acted as the special envoy of President Hu Jintao, announced that the two countries reached much consensus and realized positive results, a CRI report said.

Characterizing trade relations between China and US as one of the most complicated in the world, Wu said that the SED was an opportunity for both countries to enhance mutual trust and understanding in strategic issues.

Her comments were echoed by US Secretary of the Treasury Henry Paulson, who said in his statement that "getting the economic relationship right is vital not only to our people, but to the world economy."

Paulson acted as co-chair of the Strategic Economic Dialogue as the special representative of US President George W. Bush.

Among the agreements reached by the two nations was to double the number of daily passenger flights from the US to China by 2012. By 2011, air cargo companies will have virtually unlimited access to the Chinese market.

China and the US will also work together as part of the WTO Doha negotiations to reduce or eliminate trade barriers for environmental goods and services.

The two countries will likewise provide policy incentives to promote the full commercialization of advanced coal technologies and will advance commercial use of carbon capture and storage technologies, CRI reports.

Negotiations to facilitate Chinese group leisure travel to the US will also be started.

MSN Money Central said that China's offer of limited concessions in financial services that would pave the way for foreign companies trying to access China's stock market. China said it would lift the block on new securities joint venture and in the future let these companies participate in a wider range of activities.

Foreign banks would be allowed to issue local currency credit and debit cards. China will also raise the ceiling on the amount qualified foreign institutional investors could invest in domestic financial markets from 10 billion USD (7.4 million euros) to 30 billion USD (22.3 billion euros).

However, the Chinese delegation did not make new commitments regarding currency adjustment, which was what China's critics in the US Congress were hoping for.

According to The New York Times, after the SED, the Chinese delegation started meetings with leaders of the US Congress to head off the possibility of economic sanctions against China this year. Congressional leaders, however, were not too keen about the idea, as a letter from the Ways and Means Committee of the House of Representatives showed. Both Democrats and Republicans sitting on the Committee said that they had serious concerns about some of China's economic practices.

The letter cited "China's massive and constant interventions in the currency market to keep the value of its currency low, its use of subsidies to promote exports and its inability to enforce intellectual property rights."