Panel discusses sticking points of bilateral trade

Sino-US relations, trade between the world’s two largest economies, and debt dominated a panel discussion on China, the US and the global economy in New York on Wednesday.

Joseph Lake of the Economist Intelligence Unit moderated the discussion at the 2017 Peking University Guanghua New York Forum.

Panelists were Hongbin Cai, a professor at Peking University’s Guanghua School of Management; David Dollar, a senior fellow at the Washington-based Brookings Institution; and Simon Jin, managing director and president of greater China for S&P Global.

Cai and Dollar both agreed that the April meeting in Florida between President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump was largely a success. “Everyone was relieved that Trump didn’t follow through on some of the heated rhetoric he said about China during (last year’s) presidential campaign,” said Dollar.

“The meeting was successful for both sides and shows that both leaders were determined not to have conflicts in the beginning,” said Cai.

S&P’s Jin said that the 100day action plan of the US-China Comprehensive Economic Dialogue unveiled at the end of the meeting resulted in new trade measures between China and the US that included some easement of restrictions in China’s financial services sector.

“We are excited that credit ratings in China will now be open to foreign companies like ours,” Jin said.

Dollar and Cai said that difficult negotiations remain for China and the US as both nations seek to smooth differences. “China has some limits on its economy that the US considers protectionist while China believes that the US has some limits on Chinese investment that they want lifted,” Cai said. “Real hard negotiations lie ahead.”

Cai said the US seems to focus on the financial sector when discussing China’s economy.

Dollar said the US would like to see China open up its service sector to more foreign participation. “Healthcare is an example, as China has an aging population, and the US has a vibrant assisted-living industry that would like to participate in the Chinese market,” added Dollar.

WELITZKIN / CHINA DAILY PAUL Joseph Lake of The Economist Intelligence Unit moderates a discussion on China, the US and the global economy in New York on Wednesday with Hongbin Cai from the Guanghua School of Management at Peking University, David Dollar of the Brookings...