Sharing information important to U.S.-China bilateral trade: U.S. official

15:45, April 20, 2011

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Information sharing at local levels between the United States and China plays an important role in promoting bilateral economic and trade cooperation, a senior U.S. official says.

"I think it is wonderful to have the local mayors talking with each other of their investment opportunities in both countries and their shared economic challenges," Rebecca Blank, under secretary for economic affairs at the U.S. Commerce Department, told Xinhua on Tuesday.

"The sharing of information is important. And the biggest challenge is trying to figure out what is the right place to go to when you are looking to invest."

Blank spoke during the first "U.S.-China Initiative on City-Level Economic Cooperation," a platform kicked off here Tuesday.

In 2001 when China joined the World Trade Organization, U.S. exports to China were valued at 19 billion dollars, and only nine years later by 2010, the volume totaled nearly 92 billion dollars, Blank said. China is the United States' second largest trading partner and the third largest export market.

Blank said that during the past several decades, great changes have taken place in China with millions of people there clambering into the middle class.

"The United States welcomes this growth," Blank said. "It is good for the Chinese people, good for the global economy and it is good for the U.S. as well."

Blank said that she also sees huge opportunities for foreign direct investments for the world's two largest economies.

According to Chinese statistics, American foreign investment in China reached 65 billion dollars, while China's FDI in the United States recorded only 4.8 billion dollars, but is gain momentum.

Blank said that the United States welcomes more foreign direct investment from China.

"We think the U.S. is a very attractive market with a good labor force and a very large consumer market here," she said. "Hopefully, they can learn from each other and open up some new markets both for the U.S. side and for China."

Blank said choosing the right locations and figuring out each other's different needs was the difficult part in maintaining good bilateral economic cooperation between China and the U.S.

The government's role is to set up a platform and hold match-making events for U.S. and Chinese enterprises to foster partnerships, Blank said.

"The trade and investment are not zero-sum games," Blank said, adding that mutually beneficial trade and investment will spur growth and create jobs for both countries.

Source: Xinhua