Interview: Properly handling Sino-US economic and trade relations is adhering to the "incremental thinking" - visiting Craig Allen, president of the National Committee on Us-China Business

Washington, 17 Nov (Xinhua) -- An exclusive interview: Properly handling Sino-US economic and trade relations is adhering to the "incremental thinking" -- visiting Craig Allen, chairman of the National Committee on Us-China Business

Xinhua News Agency reporters Xiong Maoling, Hu Yousong, and Tan Yixiao

Craig Allen, chairman of the US-China Business Council, said in an exclusive interview with a Xinhua reporter in Washington, D.C., a few days ago that the United States and China are important economic partners, and the two sides should respect each other and think carefully, and that the settlement of bilateral economic and trade issues should not pursue perfect results, but should seek incremental progress.

Regarding the video meeting between the Heads of State of China and the US dollar held on the 16th, Allen believes that this is an "excellent discussion", the two sides have a better and clearer understanding of each other's basic views, and believe that it will play a fundamental role in promoting bilateral relations and will help the strategic stability of the two countries.

Allen said the U.S.-China economic and trade relationship is so important that more than 1 million Americans are employed by businesses that rely on exports to China. The people of both countries want to smooth economic, trade and investment exchanges, enjoy the benefits of a predictable and prosperous economic environment, and bring more opportunities for companies and people in both countries with greater stability. It is hoped that the discussions between the leaders of the two countries will lead to the establishment of a framework for economic engagement between the two sides and continue to promote discussions and negotiations on economic and trade topics.

Founded in 1973, the U.S.-China Business Council has more than 200 U.S. member companies doing business in China. Allen told reporters that despite the current challenges posed by the U.S.-China relationship to companies, the agency's annual membership questionnaire released in August showed that 95% of the companies surveyed were still profitable.

He said that in the next decade or more, China's contribution to global economic growth will remain about 30%, and enterprises can only become global leaders if they become leaders in the Chinese market. U.S. companies want to grow with the Chinese market and the Asian market and contribute to China's development.

Allen said U.S.-China trade has a bright future in areas such as consumer goods, agriculture, industrial manufacturing and services. He argues that the definition and scope of national security should not be generalized, that the free flow of information, people, investment and technology is very beneficial, and that the greater the degree of global integration, the richer, more prosperous and more secure the country will be.

Allen, who served as the U.S. Department of Commerce's deputy assistant secretary for Asia and deputy assistant secretary for China, visited China for the first time in 1980 and has traveled to Andhma china hundreds of times to date. In his view, it was not possible to solve all the problems of bilateral relations overnight, but rather to break them down into smaller, solvable problems and then make progress on them.

He said that on economic and trade issues, "what we are pursuing is not a perfect result, but seeking improvement, upgrading, and pursuing incremental progress."

Allen spoke positively of China's application to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), saying it was a wise decision that would bring the United States and China closer together on many important issues and make it easier to reach consensus.

Allen also stressed the importance of multilateralism. He believes that most of the existing international organizations have a history of several decades, the international system is not perfect, with China's economic development, playing an increasingly important role in the global system, the formulation of multilateral rules to keep pace with the times is of great importance. (End)