China warns US not to make it a scapegoat
China will take measures to meet US complaints about their bilateral trade imbalance as part of next month’s trip to Washington by Hu Jintao, Chinese president, but has warned the US also to take responsibility for its economic problems.
Wen Jiabao, China’s premier, in unreported comments to a forum of foreign business executives on Monday evening, promised new initiatives on issues such as abuse of intellectual property rights, a long-running complaint of investors.
“But it is unfair for the US to scapegoat China for the US’s own structural economic problems,” Mr Wen added, according to two executives at the closed meeting, and asked that this comment be relayed to the American people.
Mr Wen’s comments coincide with a surge in bilateral talks and exchanges in an effort by China to lay the foundations for a s
Russia pledges gas pipelines to China
Click here
uccessful visit by Mr Hu and also head off rising protectionist pressures in the US.
China is hosting this week the US senators Charles Schumer, a New York Democrat, and Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, who co-authored a bill to impose 27.5 per cent tariffs on Chinese imports unless Beijing substantially revalues the renminbi.
Mr Schumer said in Beijing yesterday they were not in China “to dictate specific markers”, but wanted to see a “pattern of progress” with the Chinese currency.
“To say that there’s been no progress would be wrong?.?.?.?we would like to get an idea from our Chinese hosts what the future is going to be like,” he said.
US seeks trade insurance with bilateral pacts
Click here
China has given the senators markedly higher level access than usually accorded to visiting US politicians, arranging meetings with the foreign and commerce ministers and also with Zhou Xiaochuan, governor of the People’s Bank of China.
Mr Wen’s call for Washington to take responsibility for the US trade deficit with China finds sympathy in the US among economists who blame the imbalance on America’s chronic shortage of savings.
Stephen Roach, chief economist for Morgan Stanley, said the imposition of tariffs on Chinese goods would simply mean that the trade deficit would gravitate to another foreign country, and most likely one with a higher cost structure.
“Such a shift in America’s external sourcing would amount to the functional equivalent of a tax on the American consumer,” he said in paper delivered in Beijing at the weekend.
In Shanghai, Kharan Bhatia, deputy US trade representative, said a more flexible Chinese currency would help redress the large structural imbalances in the global economy.
Mr Bhatia added that the US would consider taking action at the World Trade Organisation over trade disputes with China, but refused to give details of specific possible complaints.
温家宝：中国不当美国的替罪羊
中国将采取措施应对美国对于双边贸易失衡的抱怨，这是中国国家主席胡锦涛下月访美的任务之一，但中国同时警告称，美国也应对本国经济问题承担自身责任。
周一晚间，中国总理温家宝在一个外企高管论坛上发表了未经报道的评论，承诺将采取新的举措，解决投资者一直抱怨的滥用知识产权等问题。
出席此次非公开会议的两位高管人士称，温家宝补充表示，美国把中国当作其自身结构性经济问题的替罪羊，这是不公平的。他还要求将这番话转达给美国人民。
温家宝发表上述评论的同时，中美双边会谈与交流明显增多，中国希望以此为胡锦涛成功访美奠定基础，同时遏制美国日益增强的保护主义压力。
中国本周接待了两位美国参议员的来访，他们分别是纽约州民主党人查尔斯?舒默(Charles Schumer)和南卡罗莱纳州共和党人林赛?格雷厄姆(Lindsey Graham)，他们共同起草了一项议案，提议如果中国政府不对人民币进行大幅升值，就将对从中国进口的商品征收27.5%的关税。
舒默昨日在北京表示，他们二人访华并非是来“发布具体的目标”，而是希望看到中国货币有一个“进展的模式”。
他表示：“如果说完全没有进展那是不对的……我们希望从中国领导人那里了解人民币未来前景如何。”
中国对这两位议员的接待规格，明显高于正常情况下来访的美国政界人士。他们被安排与中国外交部长、商务部长，以及中国人民银行(People’s Bank of China)行长周小川进行了会谈。
温家宝呼吁美国政府承担起对华贸易逆差的责任，这在美国得到了一些经济学家们的赞同，他们将这种失衡归咎于美国储蓄长期不足问题。
摩根士丹利(Morgan Stanley)首席经济学家斯蒂芬?罗奇(Stephen Roach)表示，对中国货物加征关税，只能导致贸易逆差转移到另外一个国家，而且很可能是一个成本结构更高的国家。
他在上周末发表于北京的一篇论文中表示：“如果美国进口来源发生这种转变，从功能上来说，那将相当于对美国消费者征税。”
美国贸易副代表卡兰?巴蒂亚(Karan Bhatia)在上海表示，提高人民币的灵活性，将有助于纠正全球经济中的严重结构性失衡。
他在一次讲话中表示：“中国也能够为全球经济做出贡献……做法是提高人民币灵活性，并允许人民币对市场力量作出更为积极的响应。”
巴蒂亚补充称，美国将会考虑就中美贸易争端问题在世界贸易组织(WTO)中采取行动，但他拒绝透露可能提出的具体申诉内容。
他表示：“对于那些我们无法通过双边磋商解决的争端，也许需要通过其它途径加以解决，包括诉诸世贸组织争端解决程序。”
作为胡锦涛访美之行的部分内容，预计中国将宣布从波音公司(Boeing)购买更多飞机，同时提高棉花、大豆等美国农产品的进口量，以求化解美国的贸易保护主义情绪。
