Chinese foreign trade minister Shi Guangsheng said Tuesday, December 5, that to develop healthy and stable trade and economic relations between China and the United States will serve the common interests of the two and meet the desires of both peoples.

Shi, minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation (MOFTEC) , made the remarks in a speech at a dinner party hosted by the American Chamber of Commerce in China. About 500 people from the Chinese Foreign Ministry, and a dozen other relevant Chinese departments attended the party.

"China-US trade and economic relations have become an important part of the overall relations between the two countries, " Shi said. "The settlement of the permanent normal trade relations (PNTR), which troubled the development of trade and economic relations for years, has shown again that to develop a healthy and stable China-US trade and economic relations serve the common interests of both sides, and that is also the common desire of people in both countries."

Shi appreciated the American Chamber of Commerce for its role in the settlement of the PNTR issue. He said following China's access to the WTO, it will provide overseas investors with new business opportunities in the country.

The minister said the US business community should make use of that opportunity and start a new wave of economic and trade cooperation with Chinese partners, and therefore give full play to their capital, expertise and management experiences.

Timothy Stratford, chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce, and US Ambassador to China Joseph Prueher, both said in their speech that a stable trade and economic relations between the two countries will help the development of relations overall.

They said the US business community is highly confident about business development in China.

(People’s Daily 12/06/2000)