Xi presses for new ‘win-win’ cooperation

China’s leader urges US businesses to build more bridges for friendly ties

China will remain firmly committed to fostering a marketoriented, lawbased and worldclass business environment. XI JINPING President

China’s modernization will provide more opportunities for businesses from the United States and other nations, and there is “enormous potential, vast space and a promising future” for greater economic and trade cooperation between the two countries, President Xi Jinping said on Dec 14.

In a congratulatory letter read by Chinese Ambassador to the US Xie Feng at the jubilee gala of the US-China Business Council (USCBC) in Washington, Xi said that business cooperation is an important part of China-US relations and has brought “many tangible” benefits to the two peoples.

“China will remain firmly committed to advancing high-quality development and high-standard openingup, and China will remain firmly committed to fostering a market-oriented, law-based and world-class business environment,” Xi said.

The Chinese president noted that the world is undergoing major transformations unseen in a century, and whether China and the US can work hand in hand to tackle these challenges together is of concern to both their peoples, and will have an impact on the future of humanity.

He recalled that during his meeting with US President Joe Biden in California on Nov 15, they had in-depth discussions on issues vital to China-US relations and reached important common understandings.

China is ready, based on the principles of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation, to make concerted efforts with the US to implement the deliverables of the meeting and promote the healthy, stable and sustainable development of bilateral relations, he added.

Xi said he hopes the USCBC and its member companies will build more bridges for friendly exchanges and cooperation, and “help write a new chapter of win-win cooperation in the next 50 years”.

Biden also sent a congratulatory letter to the gala to acknowledge the role the USCBC has played over 50 years in strengthening US-China economic and trade ties.

“The world expects the United States and China to work together to address issues like the climate crisis, and the global food and health security crises, which impact lives everywhere, and are too big for any nation to resolve alone,” he said.

Referring to his summit meeting with Xi last month, Biden said in the letter that the US is committed to “responsibly managing the competition between our two countries”.

US Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns told the business leaders at the gala that “we will be very happy to work with all of you toward the goal of normalizing an economic relationship, of making sure that we’re doing what we can on both sides to bring it forward”.

Also speaking at the gala, Chinese Ambassador Xie said that it is important to honor commitments, and implement the common understandings reached at the San Francisco summit.

“Words should not ring hollow, and promises must be kept,” he said, adding that China always keeps its word by taking real actions.

For example, after the summit, Beijing took a series of practical measures on the economy and trade, counternarcotics and people-to-people exchanges.

“We hope the two sides will work in the same direction, both show good faith and take concrete actions, enhance communication through the restored and new mechanisms … and earnestly deliver on each and every of our presidents’ important common understandings,” he said.

The envoy cautioned that the stabilizing momentum in China-US relations should not be disrupted by US domestic politics.

USCBC president Craig Allen said the organization remains committed to advocating for American companies doing business in China, and to expanding the overall US-China commercial relationship.

“More than a million of our fellow citizens are employed due to trade with China. Each of their jobs is important,” Allen said at the gala, themed “making history together and building for the next 50 years”.

China’s integration into the global economy is “unequivocally” a positive development, he said.