Ｃｈｉｃａｇｏ Ｃｏｕｎｃｉｌ ｏｎ Ｆｏｒｅｉｇｎ Ｒｅｌａｔｉｏｎｓ Ｄｅｌｅｇａｔｉｏｎ ｉｎ Ｂｅｉｊｉｎｇ

At the invitation of the CPAFFC， the Delegation of the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations visited Beijing from October 19 to 21， 2004 after attending the Shanghai-Chicago Dialogue. The delegation was composed of 18 well-known Americans from the political and business circles， including William Daley， former US secretary of commerce， Philip Condit， retired chairman and CEO of Boeing Company and Lester Crown， chairman of Chicago Council on Foreign Relations.Xu Kuangdi， vice chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC)， met with the delegation. The delegation also called on Vice Foreign Minister Zhou Wenzhong， Vice Finance Minister Lou Jiwei and Commerce Minister Bo Xilai.

Vice Chairman Xu Kuangdi Meets with the delegation

During his talk with the delegation， Vice Chairman Xu Kuangdi laid special emphasis on the China-US trade issue. He said， China does not seek long-term big surplus in its trade with the U.S. Since October 2003 China has dispatched several procurement delegations to the U.S. and purchased American commodities worth US$ 15 billions. In the first 9 months of 2004， China-US trade volume increased by 36%， compared with the same period the year before. China’s import from the U.S. increased by 41%， narrowing the latter’s trade imbalance with China. However， China can not only “fly in Boeing airplanes and eat things made of American soybeans”. We hope that the U.S. will loosen its control over the high-tech， high value-added products for civilian use in its export to China， so that more American enterprises can rely on their own strength to compete for bigger market shares in China. At request Vice President Xu briefed the guests on China’s economic development. He said， China’s economy has maintained a good development momentum this year and the GDP growth rate of the first half of this year reached 9.7%. However， we have also encountered some problems in our economic development such as overheated investment in some sectors， excessive investment demand and hasty release of credit， for which we have already taken a series of macro-control measures.

Exchanging Views with Relevant Ministries

The delegation called on the leaders of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs， the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Commerce and exchanged views on issues of common concern with them.

1.Taiwan issue

When meeting the delegation， Vice Foreign Minister Zhou Wenzhong said， the Taiwan issue is the most important and sensitive issue in China-US relations. Proper resolution of this issue will have a direct bearing on the overall China-US relations. Chen Shui-bien stubbornly holds on his separatist position of “Taiwan independence” and is bent on “gradual Taiwan independence”. He has even put forth a timetable to make the island independent through “referendum” and creation of a new constitution. Facts have proven that the “Taiwan independence” forces， led by Chen Shui-bien， are the major threat to China’s peaceful reunification and the stability of the Taiwan Straits. The US should realize the seriousness of this issue， stop its sale of large amount of weaponry to Taiwan and stop elevating US-Taiwan military relationship. Vice Minister Zhou hoped that the guests would make active efforts to let the American people of all circles know China’s position and policy on the issue that concerns the sovereignty and territorial integrity of China and bears on the core interests of China， and urge the US Government and Congress to approach the Taiwan issue properly in line with the three China-US Joint Communiqués.

2. The Reform of State-Owned Enterprises

The Vice Finance Minister Lou Jiwei told the delegation that in 2003 the total profits made by China’s state-owned large and medium-sized enterprises reached 380 billion RMB yuan， but much of them were made by a few big enterprises. Most of the state-owned enterprises in most sectors and regions were operating at low profits or even at a loss. The commercial banks compete to offer loans to those profitable enterprises， whereas it is very difficult for enterprises that are in the red for years to get bank loans. Enterprises， whether owned by the state or by localities， are actively seeking cooperation with overseas partners. We encourage them to achieve further development by relying on their own advantages and making use of foreign funds.

3. Economic Reform

Commercial Minister Bo Xilai briefed the guests on China’s economic reform. He said， in the last 25 years， China’s economic reform has made achievements that have attracted attention in the whole world， which makes us more willing to transform into market economy and open economy. China’s GDP has maintained a fast and sound growth rate of over 8%. By relying on their own strength Chinese enterprises have accumulated more than US$400 billion in foreign reserve. These achievements have confirmed our determination to deepen reform. We have honored our WTO entry commitments and lowered tariffs and we will step up our efforts to further economic reform.

The delegation members were very grateful to the CPAFFC for arranging the above-mentioned meetings and felt that the visit was very fruitful. They have deepened their understanding of China’s market and foreign policy， which has laid the foundation for them to expand economic and trade cooperation with China.