U.S.–China Strategic and Economic Dialogue

The U.S.–China Strategic and Economic Dialogue (S&ED) (simplified Chinese: 中美战略与经济对话; traditional Chinese: 中美戰略與經濟對話; pinyin: Zhōng Měi zhànlüè yǔ jīngjì duìhuà) was a high-level dialogue for the United States and China to discuss a wide range of regional and global strategic and economic issues between both countries. The establishment of the S&ED was announced on April 1, 2009, by U.S. President Barack Obama and Chinese President Hu Jintao. The upgraded mechanism replaced the former Senior Dialogue and Strategic Economic Dialogue started under the George W. Bush administration.^[1]^: 288 High-level representatives of both countries and their delegations will met annually at capitals alternating between the two countries.^[2]^[3]

The S&ED was renamed the Comprehensive Economic Dialogue in June 2017. The Trump administration terminated the dialogue that year.

History

The creation of the S&ED was announced on April 1, 2009, in London at the G-20 summit by President Barack Obama and President Hu Jintao during their first meeting.^[4] The upgraded mechanism replaced the former Senior Dialogue and Strategic Economic Dialogue started under the George W. Bush administration. High-level representatives of both countries and their delegations meet annually at capitals alternating between the two countries. The first meeting was held in Washington, D.C. on July 27–28, 2009.

It has been suggested by analysts and media that the S&ED constitutes an important part of the G-2 relationship between the United States and China.^[5]^[6]^[7]^[8] Experts say that it can promote political trust, constructive engagement, and collaboration between the two countries.^[9]

The administration of United States President Donald Trump renamed S&ED as the Comprehensive Economic Dialogue in June 2017.^[1]^: 288 One meeting occurred, and the Trump administration canceled the dialogue that year.^[1]^: 288

Purpose

The S&ED attempted to address the challenges and opportunities that the United States and China face on a wide range of regional and global areas of immediate and long-term strategic and economic interests.^[1]^: 288 Both President Barack Obama of the U.S. and President Hu Jintao of China placed the S&ED at the center of the bilateral relationship and sought to deliver concrete, meaningful, and sustained progress over time on long-term strategic and economic objectives through the S&ED.^[10]

The S&ED has allowed the Secretary of Treasury and Secretary of State to meet directly with their more powerful counterparts; China traditionally considers American cabinet secretaries equal to Chinese ministers, rather than the more senior state councilors and vice premiers.^[11]

Structure

The S&ED was organized around a high-level, cross-cutting structure that addresses the geopolitical nature of mutual concerns in strategic and economic discussions. The S&ED provided a forum for ongoing and productive bilateral engagement between U.S. and Chinese officials with diverse responsibilities for both economic and strategic issues. The structure of the S&ED allowed for a plenary session to discuss issues of cross-cutting strategic and economic importance, while maintaining distinct strategic and economic tracks. Each respective track involved focused discussions on issues of mutual immediate and long-term strategic or economic interest. The S&ED will meet semi-annually to facilitate robust engagement and progress between dialogues through coordination with existing bilateral dialogues and working-level interactions.^[10]

Participants

The S&ED brought together senior leadership representing the U.S. and Chinese governments. Special representatives were appointed by Presidents of both countries.

Special representatives

Strategic Track

Economic Track

First round meetings

The meetings for the first round of the dialogue took place July 27–28, 2009 in Washington, D.C.^[12]

Vice Premier Wang Qishan held talks with Congressmen Rick Larsen and Mark Kirk, former U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Justin Yifu Lin, chief economist and senior vice president of the World Bank, on July 26, 2009, prior to the S&ED.^[13]^[14] Secretary of State Hillary Clinton hosted a dinner on July 26, 2009, for Chinese State Councilor Dai Bingguo.^[15] In an opinion piece published in The Wall Street Journal, Clinton and Timothy Geithner wrote about the U.S.–China relationship and the new S&ED. They added, "Simply put, few global problems can be solved by the U.S. or China alone. And few can be solved without the U.S. and China together", citing the "strength of the global economy, the health of the global environment, the stability of fragile states and the solution to nonproliferation challenges" as aspects that both countries have to cooperate on.^[16]

Hillary Clinton, Wang Qishan, Timothy Geithner, Dai Bingguo and President Obama addressed the opening ceremony of the first S&ED on July 27, 2009.^[17] President Hu sent a congratulatory message read out by Wang. Obama said in his speech, "The relationship between the United States and China will shape the 21st century, which makes it as important as any bilateral relationship in the world. That really must underpin our partnership. That is the responsibility that together we bear."^[18] The opening ceremony of the first Dialogue was held in the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center.^[19]

The agenda included the global economic interest, North Korean nuclear weapons production and proliferation, climate change, and overseas development assistance. Chinese participants met with and were addressed by President Barack Obama and spent some time on Capitol Hill meeting with members.^[20] They also met with Vice President Joe Biden.^[21] China brought more than 150 senior officials, including 28 minister-level officials and nearly its whole Cabinet, one of the largest and highest-level official Chinese delegations ever to come to the U.S.^[22] Chinese central banker Zhou Xiaochuan, Chinese Finance Minister Xie Xuren, the Chinese head of the banking regulatory commission, Liu Mingkang, and the head of securities regulatory commission, Shang Fulin, participated in the dialogue.^[23] China's Vice Foreign Minister Wang Guangya also participated.

A legion of prominent personages took part on the U.S. side. For example, for climate change, Secretary of Energy Steven Chu, science adviser John Holdren, Carol Browner, Lisa Jackson from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and others participated for the U.S. For the Chinese side, Vice-Minister Zhang Guobao of the powerful National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) spoke on energy issues and NDRC Vice-Minister Xie Zhenhua talked about the substantial steps that China is taking to limit CO₂ emissions.^[23]

In an effort to reassure the Chinese about their investment, Obama rolled out top officials to meet with Chinese representatives including Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, National Economic Council Director Lawrence Summers and Peter Orszag, Obama's budget director, and U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk among others.^[24] Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke briefed Chinese officials about how the U.S. plans to keep inflation in check over the next few years.^[25] U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice also participated in the Dialogue.^[26] The New York Times reported how 200 Chinese bankers, bureaucrats and policymakers scrutinized Obama's economic strategy and commented "how much the global financial crisis has changed the subtle balance of power in meetings of 'the G2'".^[27]

The U.S. and China also announced a resumption of routine military contacts and high-level visits by defense officials when Admiral Timothy Keating met with his Chinese counterpart during the dialogue.^[28]

On July 29, Wang Qishan met with Ben Bernanke and exchanged views on bilateral issues and other issues of mutual concern. Dai Bingguo had breakfast with a group of U.S. senators including Senator John Kerry and Senator Richard Lugar on Capitol Hill.^[29]^[30]

Highlights

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Chinese State Councilor Dai Bingguo, U.S. Timothy Geithner, Chinese Vice Premier Wang Qishan and other participants of the U.S.–China Strategic and Economic Dialogue pose for a family photo on July 27, 2009.

Strategic Track

The Strategic Track of the S&ED consists of four pillars:

1) Bilateral relations (people-to-people exchanges);
2) International security issues (nonproliferation, counterterrorism);
3) Global issues (health, development, energy, global institutions);
4) Regional security and stability issues (Afghanistan/Pakistan, Iran, DPRK).

Climate change, clean energy, and the environment were also discussed in separate special sessions.

Key highlights from the Strategic Track include: Climate Change, Energy, and Environment MOU, North Korea, South Asia, Sudan, Counter-Terrorism, Non-proliferation, Military-to-Military Relations, Human Rights, Energy Security, and Global Issues.^[31]

Schedule

A schedule for the dialogue pertaining to the Strategic and Economic Track was arranged in advance and released by the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Department of the Treasury respectively.^[32]^[33]

July 27

S&ED Family Photo
S&ED Opening Ceremony
Plenary Presentations of the S&ED
Two-on-Two Meeting of the S&ED
Plenary Luncheon for the S&ED
Economic Track Family Photo
Economic Track Principals Meeting
Strategic Track Session I on Bilateral Relations
Clinton and Dai Private Meeting
Banquet Dinner for Participants of the S&ED hosted by Clinton

July 28

Strategic Track Family Photo
Strategic Track Session II on Global Issues
Economic Track Opening Session
MOU Signing
Strategic Track Discussion III
Strategic Track Luncheon hosted by Clinton
S&ED Co-Leads Meeting with President Obama at the White House
S&ED Principals Meeting with President Obama at the White House
U.S.–China Closing Statements
U.S. Press Conference
China Press Conference
U.S.–China Business Council and National Committee on U.S.–China Relations Dinner

Participants

The first Dialogue provided an opportunity not only for the four co-chairs, Secretary of State Clinton and Secretary of the Treasury Geithner, Vice Premier Wang Qishan, and State Councilor Dai, but also for over 20 officials of Cabinet-rank from each side to meet face-to-face and to discuss a range of substantive issues.^[31]

Economic Track

As special representatives of President Barack Obama and President Hu Jintao, U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Chinese Vice Premier Wang Qishan were joined by many high-level officials for the Economic Track.^[34]

On the U.S. side, they were joined by the following Cabinet members and other senior officials:

Secretary of Agriculture Thomas Vilsack
Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis
Secretary of Transportation Raymond LaHood
Chair of the Council of Economic Advisors Christina Romer
Director of Office of Management and Budget Peter Orszag
U.S. Trade Representative Ronald Kirk
Director of the National Economic Council and Assistant to the President for Economic Policy Lawrence Summers
Chairman of the Federal Reserve Ben Bernanke
Chair of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Sheila Bair
Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission Mary Schapiro
Chairman of Commodity Futures Trading Commission Gary Gensler
Chairman and President of the Export-Import Bank Fred Hochberg

On the Chinese side, they were joined by the following Ministers and other senior officials:

Minister of Finance Xie Xuren
Governor of the People's Bank of China Zhou Xiaochuan
Chairman of the China Banking Regulatory Commission Liu Mingkang
Chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission Chairman Shang Fulin
Chinese Ambassador to the United States Zhou Wenzhong
Deputy Secretary-General of the State Council Bi Jingquan
Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs He Yafei
Vice Minister of the National Development and Reform Commission Zhang Xiaoqiang
Vice Minister of Human Resources and Social Security Wang Xiaochu
Vice Minister of Transport Weng Mengyong
Vice Minister of Agriculture Niu Dun
Vice Minister of Commerce Ma Xiuhong
Vice Minister of Health Yin Li
Vice Chairman of the China Insurance Regulatory Commission Li Kemu
President of the Export-Import Bank of China Li Ruogu

Second round meetings

The meetings for the second round of the dialogue took place on May 24–25, 2010 in Beijing. Chinese President Hu Jintao gave a speech on the opening ceremony in the Great Hall of the People. The dialogue was co-chaired by Hillary Clinton, Timothy Geithner, Wang Qishan and Dai Bingguo.^[35]

Before the dialogue, Hillary Clinton wrote an op-ed in the Global Times.^[36] Chinese Finance Minister Xie Xuren wrote a piece in the Washington Post.^[37]