Top Chinese Official to Attend U.S. Trade Talks

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Sept. 10 – China’s Vice Premier Wang Qishan is scheduled to visit the United States next week to attend bilateral trade talks with top U.S. officials.

The discussions will likely focus on slowing Chinese exports to the United States and the subprime crisis. In the past, the Chinese renminbi and gaping trade surplus between the two have been hot topics for debate.

Mr. Wang will be co-chairing the Sino-US Joint Committee on Commerce and Trade in Los Angeles on Sept. 17 along with U.S. Trade Secretary Carlos M. Gutierrez and U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab.

According to China Daily, for the first half of the year, China’s exports to the United States amounted to US$116.8 billion dollars, an increase of 8.9 percent from the same period last year but nine percentage points lower than a year earlier.

The decrease has been attributed to the subprime crisis plaguing the U.S. economy and a stronger Chinese currency that has made Chinese goods more expensive. The renminbi has appreciated an estimated 20 percent against the dollar since July 2005.