BEIJING, December 23 (Xinhua News Agency) — When interviewed on December 23 on the matters such as the achievements of China-US Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade (JCCT) and the current situation and prospects of bilateral economic and trade cooperation between China and the U.S., Mr. Gao Hucheng, Minister of Commerce of PRC, said, “Next year will be the 35th anniversary of establishment of diplomatic ties between China and the U.S., with new opportunities for the development of bilateral economic and trade cooperation”.

When asked about the 24th JCCT held in Beijing not long ago, Mr. Gao noted that it was the first one of the kind convened after the inception of the two new administrations, and also the last round of high-level economic and trade dialogue between China and the U.S. in this year. There were more than 200 representatives including 34 ministers and vice ministers from both countries attending this JCCT. During one and a half days, they thoroughly explored economic and trade issues of interest, reached several agreements, and made headway in many long-term unsettled issues.

“It was a successful, honest, pragmatic and fruitful meeting”, commented Mr. Gao.

He said this JCCT yielded over 70 results with both sides’ efforts. Those are extensive, pragmatic and balanced results, involving export control, intellectual property, bilateral investment, agricultural trade, governmental procurement, e-commerce, drug and food security, and strategic emerging industries and so on.

He said that China and the U.S. should consciously implement the agreements reached at the meeting, and practically promote bilateral trade and investment cooperation to a high level, and truly benefiting the industrial and commercial circles in both countries.

Mr. Gao Hucheng described that China and the U.S. carried out a wide range of fruitful, mutually beneficial cooperation in multilateral and bilateral fields during the year, which pushed forward the stable development of the bilateral relationship. In June and September, presidents in both countries had successful meetings in Sunnylands (the former Annenberg Estate), California, the U.S. and during the G20 Summit in St.Petersburg, Russia, and reached an agreement on establishing new relationship between great powers, indicating direction for promoting and developing China-US relation in a new period. In multilateral fields, China and the U.S. have made efforts together to promote the conclusion of an early harvest agreement of Doha Round in the 9th Ministerial Conference held by WTO in the beginning of the current month. As important members of WTO, good China-US interaction relation plays a key role in promoting the successful negotiation on the “early harvest”.

Mr. Gao said, “Economic and trade relation is the ‘ballast’ and ‘thruster’ of China-US relation. Their economic and trade cooperation has showed a good “tenacity” and vigorous “physical power” over years." According to his introduction, the volume of trade in goods between China and the U.S. is expected to exceed $500 billion, and the bilateral volume of investment has exceeded $100 billion this year.

For disputes on commerce and trade, Mr. Gao Hucheng emphasized that China and the U.S. are at different developmental levels and confront the rapid growth and increasing scale of economic and trade cooperation. Therefore, it is normal that some divergences and frictions happen in economic fields. And both countries should maintain peaceful mind and deal with these issues patiently and objectively.

“It is crucial to strengthen communication and exchange, insist on the principle of mutual benefit and win-win result, take care of each other, actively carry out pragmatic cooperation, and not to politicize issues on commerce and trade”, Mr. Gao Hucheng said, “Two parties can fiercely debate some issues instead of giving a Judas kiss.”

The two sides of the Pacific are enough broad to contain the two great powers, China and the U.S. As for expectations of China-US economic and trade relation in the next year, Mr. Gao Hucheng said that 2014 is the 25th anniversary of the establishment of APEC, and the 20th anniversary of the establishment of Bogor Goals. It is China that will hold the APEC next year, which has a significant meaning for the future trend of economic and trade cooperation in Asian-Pacific region. China appreciates that during this JCCT the U.S. clearly disclosed it will fully support China to hold APEC next year. China and the U.S. should make efforts jointly to develop a new cooperation situation of win-win result instead of zero-harmony and cooperation instead of confrontation in Asian-Pacific region.

Translated by Hu Xiaoying