News That China And The US Will Sign A $27 Billion Bill.

A luncheon hosted by some 600 people was held in a banquet hall in Washington on February 15th. These people, or the elite of Chinese and American business circles, or political leaders and leaders of social organizations who play an important role in Sino US relations. They gathered in Washington just waiting for the arrival of vice president Xi Jinping.

Xi Jinping visited the United States at the invitation of vice president Biden in from February 13th to 17th. The first stop is Washington. On the same day, Xi Jinping was sitting at the main table of the banquet hall and chatting with him just as one of the organizers of this luncheon, the Muhtar Kent, chairman of the US China trade National Committee (USCBC), and Mu Taikang is also the chairman and chief executive officer of the Coca Cola Co. This is the fourth time that Mu Taikang has been in contact with Xi Jinping, and the two have exchanged for about ten minutes. At the end of the banquet, Mu Taikang showed people a presentation of the banquet. The difference is that the autograph of Xi Jinping is on this introductory sheet. More than half an hour ago, Xi Jinping shook hands with some fifty or sixty Chinese and American elites at the banquet hall doorway.

"Being approachable is Xi Jinping's most impressive impression on the US business community." It is Bai Changbo, the vice president of Coca-Cola Greater China who is sitting not far away from the eye. For this event, Bai Chang Bo arrived in Washington on February 12th, accompanied Mu Tai Kang to participate in two activities organized by Xi Jinping and Chinese and American business people. In addition to this luncheon, there were also the Sino US entrepreneurs forum held in the American Chamber of Commerce Building in February 14th.

　　 27 billion dollar bill.

In the opening speech of the luncheon, Mu Taikang said: "no other two countries in the world today are more important than China US relations."

He may be right. According to the latest data provided by the US China Trade Commission, the total export volume of the us to the mainland of China in 2011 was 103 billion 900 million US dollars, an increase of 13%, and the volume of exports to Hongkong, China, reached US $104 billion 400 million. At the same time, the sales volume of us enterprises in China is US $80 billion. China is Canada's third largest export destination in 2011 after Canada and Mexico.

"This is one reason why the US attaches importance to Xi Jinping's visit to the United States. China is a very important market in the United States." Robert Poole, vice president of the US China Trade Commission, said.

This time, Xi Jinping's visit to the United States has also brought business opportunities to American enterprises. On February 15th, the Chinese trade delegation signed a soybean purchase agreement with the US side for about 4 billion 300 million US dollars, and China will buy 8 million 620 thousand tons of soybeans.

According to Zheng Zhihai, vice president of the China World Trade Organization Research Association, China consumes about 50000000 tons of soybeans every year, while domestic soybean production is not enough. Meanwhile, the average soybean prices in the United States will be 10%~20% cheaper than the domestic soybean prices. China's annual vegetable oil gap is around 2 million tons.

The purchase of soybeans is only a small part of the China trade delegation's visit to the United States. It is reported that the Chinese trade delegation will sign a large order of 27 billion US dollars with the US enterprises. This is evident from the list of Chinese business leaders who visited Xi Jinping with the United States. They are: Wan Jifei, chairman of China Council for the promotion of international trade, Lou Jiwei, President of China Investment Corp, Liu Zhenya, chairman of China National Offshore Oil Corporation, Wang Yilin, chairman of China National Offshore Oil Corporation, director of COFCO Changning, chairman of Shanghai automobile group, Hu Maoyuan, general manager of Tianjin steel pipe group, chairman of the 31 group, chairman of Shenhua Group, chairman and CEO of Lenovo Group, chairman of the board of directors of Wanxiang Group and chairman of Yihua group.

Zheng Zhihai pointed out that this is a normal trade relationship. For China, procurement is first based on the needs of the people, and for the United States, it will play a role in balancing and easing Sino US economic and trade relations. China has maintained its surplus with the United States for many years, and the United States often accuses the Sino US trade structure of being unbalanced and restricting China's imports. In 2011, President Hu Jintao signed a large list of US $45 billion during his visit to the United States. President Obama told a joint news conference that the move saved 235 thousand Americans from their jobs. But in 2012, in the US election year, the US Democratic and Republican Party's attitude towards China will be more tough in order to ensure the election. "Economic problems will be politicized at this time. It is hard to say how much the Sino US relations will improve." Zheng Zhihai said.

Another striking thing is that after Xi Jinping and Obama met in February 14th, China and the United States released the joint statement on strengthening Sino US economic relations, "at present, China has decided to open compulsory insurance against foreign insurance companies, and will formally promulgate and implement the procedures after completing relevant laws and regulations."

This is the first time that China has opened up foreign exchange insurance to foreign investors. According to the regulations, all motor vehicles running on roads in China must be handed in compulsory insurance. Compulsory insurance has been launched in the market since 2007, and has been operated by Chinese property insurance companies. Industry insiders say that letting go of strong insurance means releasing the whole auto insurance market. The automobile insurance market accounts for 70%~80% of the premium income of the entire production insurance company in China. The entry of foreign insurance companies into the Chinese market will inevitably increase the pressure of domestic insurance companies, but many analysts such as Zheng Zhihai pointed out that this will increase competition among insurance companies, and consumers will benefit from it.

As for the time, Zheng Zhihai believes that China will complete the revision process of the insurance law in 4 months, and will soon implement it.

　 Investing for the future

Even without big orders, the United States will still regard Xi Jinping's visit to the United States as "an investment in the future of Sino US relations", and vice president of the national security affairs of the US, Ben roosroth, described it in a press briefing in February 10th.

In 2012, China was also faced with the change of top leadership. In 2002, Hu Jintao visited the United States as vice chairman before serving as president of the country.

The effort of the US government to invest in the future is first reflected in the reception of this visit. During his visit to the United States, Xi Jinping will visit three places - Washington, Iowa and Losangeles, focusing on politics, humanities and economics. In Washington, Xi Jinping met Obama at the Oval Office of the White House, attended a luncheon hosted by Biden and Secretary of state Hilary, and received a full range of high-profile welcome ceremonies from the US Department of defense including 19 salute, inspection of the three armed forces, and met with us political and business leaders in The Pentagon. In Iowa, Xi Jinping went back to the local family where he lived 27 years ago for afternoon tea. On the 17 day, Biden went to Losangeles to join Xi Jinping. This action was interpreted as a "return ceremony" when Xi Jinping visited Chengdu in August 2011 when Biden visited China.

But Obama's priority now is to win the election. The US Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney criticized Obama's weak policy toward China and promised to include China in a currency manipulator. Obama also recently announced that it would set up a new Department to supervise unfair trade activities.

Similarly, the US business community is investing in the future. Before Xi Jinping's visit to the United States, the National Committee on trade between the United States and China issued a statement which put forward five points: maintaining an open investment environment to create employment; reducing trade barriers and complying with global trade regulations; ensuring fair competition and enhancing transparency; providing sustained and strong intellectual property protection; and complying with mutually beneficial innovation policies. Pu Le Bo said, "we do not want the problem to be resolved one day. We have two expectations for these aspirations. First, we hope to show that this visit is a good opportunity for China us to continue to establish cooperative relations. Second, we hope that the Chinese and American governments will understand that these East West concerns are very important." For example, he said, in 2011, when President Hu Jintao visited the United States, the business community's proposals on indigenous innovation were gradually implemented.

"The member companies of the National Committee of the US China trade do not think that the issue of RMB exchange rate affects their exports, which is not the most important issue for them." Added Pu Le Bo. Thomas Donohue, the chairman and chief executive of the US Chamber of Commerce, also said that the practice of opposing China's foreign exchange policy is losing credibility because the appreciation of the renminbi has reached a more reasonable level.

Data show that in 2011 China's current account surplus dropped to about 2.7% of gross domestic product (GDP), the lowest level since 2003, and lower than the US Treasury's standard of 4%. From the monetary point of view, the RMB exchange rate reform in June 2005 to the end of 2011, the RMB has appreciated by 31% against the US dollar. Since June 2010, China promised to let the RMB flow more freely, the RMB has appreciated by 8%. If inflation is taken into consideration, the appreciation will be even higher. According to the statistics of the bank for International Settlements, the RMB appreciation rate reached 5.11% in 2011, and the real effective exchange rate of RMB increased by 6.12%.

In the past, both the US under the Republican Party and the Democratic Party under the leadership of the United States have put pressure on China to raise the RMB exchange rate to ease trade imbalance. Obama mentioned China many times in his state of the Union address in 2012, and promised to take drastic measures against unfair trade practices he mentioned, but did not mention exchange rates. {page_break}

　　 Tango between China and America

Like any two countries, there are many problems between China and the United States, including trade imbalance, high-tech export restrictions, market rules, intellectual property rights, human rights and so on. Especially after China voted against the UN resolution on Syria, Sino US relations are more strained.

However, "between China and the United States can not be regarded as a small account. If we calculate the small amount, Sino US relations will have an accident." Wang Honggang, deputy director of the China Institute of modern international relations, said. He pointed out that Sino US relations are undergoing structural changes due to the economic strength of the two countries.

According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) data, the average growth rate of China's GDP over the past ten years is over 10%, while the US GDP growth rate is less than 2%. In 2002, the proportion of GDP in the United States accounted for about 30% of the total global economy, and this proportion dropped to 20% in 2011. The proportion of China's GDP in the total global economy increased from 4.3% in 2002 to more than 9% in 2011.

The positioning of Sino US relations has also been changing in recent years, from the "stakeholders" and "constructive collaborators" in George W. Bush's era to the "active cooperation and comprehensive" put forward by Obama after taking office, and then to the "partnership" put forward last year. The relationship between China and the United States is constantly being molded. As PU Le Bo said, "maintaining healthy Sino US economic and trade relations is very important for China and the United States."

In 2001, the total value of goods exported to China was less than US $20 billion. By 2011, this figure increased by 5 times, more than 100 billion US dollars. From the corporate level, it may be more revealing. Speaking at the February 14th China US entrepreneurs forum, Lu Guanqiu, chairman of the board of directors of Wanxiang Group, China's private enterprise, pointed out that Wanxiang Group has acquired more than 20 enterprises in the United States and has provided about 5000 jobs for the United States. Cooperation between China and the United States is more important in the period when the US economy is weak and the unemployment rate stays above 8% for a long time. In 2011, Obama proposed to double US exports in five years, and export to China would increase by 22% in two years. In 2011, US exports to China increased by 13%. "The Chinese market can help Obama meet his needs." Pu Le Bo said.

According to Bai Changbo, Xi Jinping pointed out at the Sino US entrepreneurs forum that China's "12th Five-Year plan" outline put forward economic transformation and development of energy, environmental protection and other high-tech industries, while the United States is just a high-tech country, and has many good technologies in terms of environmental protection, energy and climate change. At the same time, it is in the period of economic recovery and urgent employment creation, so the two sides have strong complementarity and great potential.

The enterprises participating in the Sino US business forum have also interpreted the role of enterprises in Sino US economic and trade relations with Xi Jinping and Biden in their respective cases, emphasizing the potential of bilateral economic and trade relations.

According to Bai Changbo, there have been eight similar activities involving entrepreneurs and dignitaries in the past two years. As Xi Jinping said in a speech at the banquet on 15 th, "when the door of Sino US exchanges and cooperation is opened, there is no power to shut it up again. On the contrary, this door will only grow larger and larger."