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US, China seek common ground
2009-07-28
WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States and China on Tuesday pledged to work together to fight climate change and promote free trade as they set the stage for an era of closer cooperation between the Pacific giants. The world's largest developed and developing nations wrapped up two days of in-depth talks in Washington to chart out the future of their relationship, which President Barack Obama said would shape the 21st century. US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said that the two countries were committed to work together to revive the ailing global economy, and would firmly resist protectionism in the process. "We agreed to undertake policies to bring about sustainable, balanced global growth once economic recovery is firmly in place," Geithner told reporters. Geithner said China had promised to step up domestic consumption, reducing its heavy reliance on exports from the world's manufacturing hub. "China will rebalance domestic demand-led growth and increase the share of consumption in GDP," Geithner said. Addressing a longstanding concern, Geithner said the United States and China had promised each other to treat foreign-owned firms operating in their markets equally to domestic companies in awarding government contracts. Geithner's remarks were echoed by China's Vice Premier Wang Qishan, who said the two countries saw a "critical" moment for the global economy. "The two sides stated that they will strengthen cooperation to jointly build a strong financial system to ensure ... stability in the two countries and the world at large," Wang said. China is the largest creditor to the heavily indebted United States and Chinese officials in recent months have worried aloud about the security of Beijing's more than 800 billion dollars invested in US Treasury bonds. The two nations -- by far the biggest emitters of carbon blamed for global warming -- signed a memorandum putting the fight against climate change at the heart of their ties. While short on specifics, the two sides said they would put in place a committee on environmental cooperation aimed at smoothing the rocky path toward a new global treaty on climate change in Copenhagen in December. "Today's agreement should send a clear signal that the United States and China are ready to work together on clean energy and climate change and sets the stage for what I hope will be many years of close cooperation," US Energy Secretary Steven Chu told a signing ceremony at the State Department. China's State Councilor Dai Bingguo said that the United States and China "have important contributions to make" to contain climate change, which UN scientists forecast will put entire species at risk if unchecked. "We hope that through our joint efforts we will be able to expand common ground and cooperation," Dai said. However, Dai stressed that the two countries had "big differences" in their stages of development and historical responsibilities for climate change. China and India have led the developing bloc in refusing to commit to binding targets on reducing carbon emissions, arguing that rich nations bear the responsibility for climate change. The two-day dialogue marks the broadening of US-China talks started under former president George W. Bush, which focused on economic affairs. Obama, addressing the opening on Monday, said that the US-China relationship was "as important as any" in the world and vowed that he would pursue "cooperation, not confrontation" as Beijing's clout grows. The two nations have also long been at odds over human rights, with the United States concerned about China's treatment of its citizens. Obama appealed Monday to China to protect its ethnic and religious minorities. However, human rights advocates have been disappointed that such issues are not more in the forefront of the two-day dialogue.
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