US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, confirming his reputation
as a veritable China hand, arrived in Beijing on Wednesday
afternoon for his third China trip in seven months ahead of the
second round of the China-US Strategic Economic Dialogue to convene
in Washington in May.
Upon arriving, Paulson was met by Chinese Vice-Premier Wu Yi, who relayed a President Hu Jintao's message for his US counterpart
George W. Bush.
Hu spoke of the importance China places in the Sino-US Strategic
Economic Dialogue, and vowed to continue efforts to deepen the
partnership.
After an official meeting with Wu, Paulson will fly to Shanghai,
to meet with local business leaders.
The dialogue was formerly launched by China and the US last
September with Wu and Paulson acting as their two countries'
special representatives. It is to be held biannually with the first
round completed last December in Beijing.
The topics for the second round in May will cover a lot of
ground, including innovation, education and bilateral trade
relations.
Wu told Paulson that China would collaborate with the United
States in ensuring the second round goes ahead in an atmosphere of
mutual trust in order to accomplish real results, and further
develop constructive relations between the two world powers.
Paulson replied by saying President Bush also viewed the
US-China strategic economic dialogue as an important issue and
considered it a priority to move this dialogue forward.
Paulson saw collaboration with Wu as crucial to jointly
promoting the dialogue in the future while also implementing the
consensus reached by their respective presidents.
Prior to departing for China, Paulson had sought to defuse
tension by telling reporters of how China was not an economic enemy
of the US.
"I would say that our relationship with China is multifaceted
and is of great importance to the US," said Paulson during an
interview with ABC, calling for the relationship with China to be
handled appropriately with a long-term plan in mind.
(Xinhua News Agency March 8, 2007)
