by Xinhua Writer Gao Pan
WASHINGTON, June 27 (Xinhua) -- China and the United States made commitment this week to exchange improved negative list offers in early September and speed up talks on a bilateral investment treaty (BIT), giving experts a sense of optimism that the world's two largest economies could wrap up BIT negotiations under U.S. President Barack Obama's administration.
Xi Jinping's state visit to the United States in the same month.
He hoped the second negative list offers will have high quality and substantial improvement so that Xi and his counterpart Obama could confirm "major progress" made in BIT talks when they meet and give further clear instructions to both negotiating teams for concluding the talks. "Our objective is to conclude the China-U.S. BIT negotiations under Obama administration," Zhu said.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew also believed the upcoming Xi- Obama summit could inject new momentum to the BIT talks. "I think the fact that there's a leader's meeting happening will focus all of the efforts to make progress for that," Lew said Wednesday at a press briefing.
U.S.-China Business Council President John Frisbie shared the similar view. "Both governments should double their efforts to advance the negotiations on a bilateral investment treaty as much as possible before President Xi's state visit in September," Frisbie said in a statement. "A high-standard BIT, with strong provisions for market openings and equal treatment, would greatly benefit the commercial relationship."
"I think there's a 50 percent chance that the BIT will be concluded late this year or early next year. It all depends on Chinese willingness to agree on a short and specific negative list, " Gary Hufbauer, a former deputy assistant secretary for international trade at U.S. Treasury and a senior fellow at the PIIE, told Xinhua.
"However, President Obama will not send the BIT to Congress until TPP (Trans-Pacific Partnership) is ratified," Hufbauer said, referring to the Asia-Pacific trade deal, which covers 40 percent of the global economy and is nearing completion after more than five years of negotiations.
After weeks of fighting over the so-called fast-track trade legislation, U.S. Congress finally agreed this week to give the president authority to submit trade deals to Congress that cannot be amended, which could push forward the stalled TPP talks, a top priority of Obama's second-term economic policy.
The Obama administration wants to wrap up TPP negotiations in the next few months and bring the 12-country agreement to Congress for ratification by the end of this year, before the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign heats up.
Chinese officials have told the U.S. side that "we hope TPP negoti. [url=http://www.wholesalesportssoccerjerseyschina.com/]Wholesale Jerseys China[/url] [url=http://www.wholesalesportsnhljerseyschina.com/]Wholesale Hats[/url] [url=http://www.wholesalesportsncaajerseyschina.com/]Wholesale Jerseys China Free Shipping[/url] [url=http://www.wholesalesportsnbajerseyschina.com/]Wholesale NBA T-Shirts[/url] [url=http://www.wholesalesportsmlbjerseyschina.com/]Wholesale Hoodie[/url] [url=http://www.wholesalenhlsportsjerseysshop.com/]Wholesale NHL Hats[/url] [url=http://www.wholesalenflsportsjerseyschina.com/]Wholesale Nike NFL Hats[/url] [url=http://www.wholesalemlbsportsjerseysshop.com/]Wholesale MLB Jerseys[/url] [url=http://www.cheapjerseysnbachinawholesale.com/]Cheap Nike NBA Jerseys[/url] [url=http://www.wholesalesoccerjerseysatcheap.com/]Cheap Soccer Jerseys[/url]