China, US to discuss RMB, US monetary policy and trade co-operation

BEIJING - Vice-Finance Minister Zhu Guangyao says China and the US will discuss the value of the RMB as well as the impact of US monetary policy when top Chinese and US officials hold their annual Strategic and Economic Dialogue in Beijing on July 9 and 10t the. Zhu said China has urged Washington to pay attention to the possible spillover effect of changes in its monetary policy on the world economy as the Federal Reserve unwinds its quantitative easing policy.

With Beijing's commitment to push forward bilateral trade co-operation with global partners, progress is expected on the Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT), negotiations around which advanced into a substantive phase for the first time at the beginning of this year (the negotiations began in 2008).

A number of US financial institutions are making efforts to push for the BIT. According to Mark Schwartz, Vice Chairman of Goldman Sachs Group and Chairman of Goldman Sachs Asia Pacific, the summer represents one of the best opportunities to push on with negotiations. However, BIT negotiations could also be driven by a number of outside forces, including competing trade treaties being pushed ahead by both the US and China - and political tensions. www.webershandwick.cn (ATI).