China-U.S. Economic and Strategic Dialogue opens in Washington

The China-U.S. Strategic and Economic Dialogue (S&ED), the first of its kind between the world's biggest developing country and biggest developed country, opened here on Monday.On behalf of Chinese President Hu Jintao and invited by U.S. President Barack Obama, Chinese Vice Premier Wang Qishan and State Councilor Dai Bingguo participated in the opening ceremony in Ronald Reagan Building in downtown Washington, D.C.. In a congratulatory message to the opening ceremony of the dialogue read by Wang, Chinese President Hu Jintao said that both China and the United States shoulder important responsibilities on a host of major issues concerning peace and development of mankind. As two countries with significant influence in the world, China and the United States also enjoy extensive common interests and broad space for cooperation, Hu said. China and the United States, in the face of the complex and changing international economic and political situation, should endeavor to expand common ground, reduce differences, enhance mutual trust and strengthen cooperation through the Strategic and Economic Dialogue, he said. "This serves the common interests of the two sides and will help advance the positive, cooperative and comprehensive relationship between our two countries," said the Chinese leader in the message. "It is also of great importance for peace, stability, development and prosperity of the whole world," he added. Hu expressed his confidence that "with the concerted efforts of both teams, the S&ED mechanism will keep improving and growing and inject new dynamism and make new contribution to our mutually beneficial cooperation in various areas and to the growth of our positive, cooperative and comprehensive relationship." Addressing the opening session of the dialogue, President Obama stressed the importance of cooperation between the United States and China,saying that the U.S.-China relationship "will shape the 21st century." He hailed the dialogue as an "essential step forward "in advancing a positive and comprehensive relationship between the two countries. "Our countries have now shared relations for longer than we were estranged. Our people interact in so many ways. And I believe that we are poised to make steady progress on some of the most important issues of our times," he said. Obama will meet with the Chinese delegation after the session. In her opening remarks, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton extended her warm welcome to the Chinese delegation, noting that the two nations were "laying brick by brick the foundation for a stronger relationship." The top U.S. diplomat said that economic recovery is "critical" to the world, adding that many global issues are "within reach" if the two countries work together. To give prominence to the dialogue and the importance of U.S.-China relations, U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said at the opening ceremony in Mandarin Chinese that "when you are in a common boat, you need to cross the river peacefully together." State Councilor Dai also gave a short speech, saying that he is optimistic with the future of bilateral relations although the two countries have differences in some areas. According to the Chinese Foreign Ministry and the U.S State Department, Dai will co-chair the "Strategic Track" of the dialogue with Clinton, while Vice Premier Wang will co-chair the "Economic Track" with Geithner, each as a special representative of their respective presidents. Chinese and U.S. officials will give closing statements to reporters after the dialogue and respective briefings to announce results of the dialogue. During their stay, Chinese officials will also meet with U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, former U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, World Bank Chief Economist Justin Yifu Lin, congressmen and other officials. Wang will deliver a speech at a banquet to be hosted on Tuesday evening by the National Council for U.S.-China Trade and the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations. The dialogue mechanism was upgraded from former Strategic Dialogue and biennial Strategic Economic Dialogue, which were initiated by the two heads of state in 2005 and 2006, respectively. Following the opening ceremony of the dialogue, officials of China and the United States will have a face-to-face plenary session before the strategic track of the S&ED to be held at the State Department Building while the economic track will first be held in Ronald Reagan Building before moving to the Treasury Department Building. The two-day dialogue will focus on addressing the challenges and opportunities that both countries face on a wide range of bilateral, regional and global areas of immediate and long-term strategic and economic interests.