From January 19th to 21st, the 3rd Hong Kong-CHINA Forum, hosted by the China Center for International Economic Exchanges and the Hong Kong-China Exchange Foundation, was held in the form of an online video conference. Many participants said that the current century-old changes and the world epidemic are intertwined, and China and the United States have extensive common interests and should strengthen cooperation.
The theme of this year's forum is "Transcending Differences and Focusing on Cooperation". The participants generally believed that the world economy is coming out of the trough, but it also faces many constraints. China and the United States have extensive common interests in bilateral and global affairs, and strengthening cooperation is beneficial to both China and the United States and the world.
Former President of Ireland Former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson: The pandemic reminds us that the world is interconnected, that we face challenges such as biodiversity and climate change, and that solving problems requires intensive and sustained cooperation. The world needs China and the United States to work together to build a solid framework for governance, sustainable development, and prosperity in the 21st century.
Honorary Senior Minister of State of Singapore former Prime Minister Oh Chok Tong: There are many pressing global issues that require the United States and China to work closely together as global powers, including free trade, climate change, global epidemic prevention and religion, extremism, and so on. U.S.-China relations should be based on healthy competition and cooperation as much as possible as a driving force for development. All countries around the globe want to establish positive and constructive relations with China and the United States.
Panelists said that the two economies of China and the United States are highly interdependent, and China is the largest trading partner of the United States in 2020. In 2019, exports to China alone provided about 1.2 million jobs for the United States.
Feng Guojing, vice chairman of the Hong Kong-China Exchange Foundation: The recent survey also shows that U.S. companies remain committed to investing in the Chinese market for a long time and list China as one of the top five priority markets for their companies' global strategy. At the same time, the United States remains China's largest export market.
At present, Sino-US relations are facing unprecedented challenges, and for the sake of the two countries themselves and the common interests of the whole world, China and the United States should strengthen communication and cooperation.
Former Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda: Each of our countries is not dancing alone on the world stage, we want to work hand in hand with other countries, and China and the United States can further balance trade and make the flow of the economic system smoother. This issue concerns not only the two countries, but the whole world.
Steve Orens, President of the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations: We have 1,000 reasons to do a good job in Sino-US relations, and none of them make Sino-US relations bad. We all hope that a positive and constructive Sino-US relationship will become our future, which is also an approach that serves the interests of the American people and the interests of the Chinese people, and also serves the common interests of the world.
The participants also said that the world epidemic once again shows that all countries in the world are a community of common destiny, and multilateralism is the only feasible solution to global challenges. China and the United States should abide by the principles of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence, and win-win cooperation to better benefit the two peoples and the world.