U.S. business community optimistic about Chinese market

BEIJING, Aug. 30 (Xinhua) -- Members of the U.S. business community have recently expressed optimism about the development prospects of the Chinese market, anticipating stable, improved bilateral relations, according to the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) on Friday.

At the invitation of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the U.S.-China Business Council (USCBC), a Chinese business delegation led by Ren Hongbin, head of the CCPIT, visited the United States from July 27 to Aug. 1, CCPIT spokesperson Wang Linjie told a press conference.

During the visit, the delegation exchanged views with government officials from the U.S. Department of Commerce and the Maryland state government, as well as business executives from nearly 30 U.S.-based companies, including Pfizer, Starbucks and Walmart, Wang said.

"The number and level of U.S.-funded enterprises participating in the exchanges were unprecedented," she noted, adding that members of the U.S. business community expressed the hope that the business communities of the two countries would meet more often, communicate more frequently and cooperate more extensively.

No matter how the international situation changes, the business communities of China and the United States have always been important maintainers of and contributors to the bilateral relationship, Wang said.

She noted that the CCPIT is willing to work with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the USCBC and other U.S. counterpart organizations and enterprises to continue deepening cooperation, and to become a stabilizing force in the development of China-U.S. relations.

The CCPIT said that it has recorded a total of 952 concerns from U.S. enterprises and institutions, promoting resolutions or effective responses to 730 of those items to date. It has also provided U.S. companies with one-stop, full-chain and personalized services in areas such as intellectual property and commercial legal services.

Next, the organization will work with relevant authorities to continue addressing the legitimate concerns of foreign businesses, optimizing China's business environment and improving services to foreign businesses.

It will continue expanding the coverage of the U.S.-China Commercial Match-Making Program, a trade promotion mechanism initiated by the CCPIT and the U.S. Department of Commerce, to effectively promote industrial exchange and cooperation between the two countries.

The spokesperson also said that the U.S. consumption market has great potential and continues to be hugely attractive to China's foreign trade enterprises, noting that thousands of Chinese brands -- from the garment industry to the auto parts sector -- will participate in trade shows in the U.S. over the coming months.

"There is vast room for and enormous potential in China-U.S. business cooperation, not only in bilateral fields but also in multilateral areas," she said. During the third meeting of the APEC Business Advisory Council this year, the CCPIT and U.S. business representatives promoted a joint China-U.S. proposal related to Asia-Pacific supply chain cooperation principles, she added.

The proposal covers the Asia-Pacific business community's specific calls against "decoupling and breaking the chain," including demands for open cooperation and non-discrimination supply chain practices, demands for supply chain policies to comply with WTO rules, and demands for the avoidance of trade and investment distortions, according to the CCPIT.