Page 100 - 2017 White Paper
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7 White Paper on the Business Environment in China
At the conclusion of the JCCT talks, also in November Politico quoted the treasury secretary as saying that
2016, Zhang Xiangcheng, China’s deputy international he still hoped for the two sides to strike a deal before
trade representative, said during a press conference President Barack Obama leaves office on January 20th
that: ““No matter how the leadership changes in the and wanted to see “as much progress as possible” before
US, the shared interests of our countries far outweigh the September talks. But he also highlighted that the
our differences”, the China Daily reported. He described quality of the treaty mattered as much as the mere
BIT negotiations as “making positive progress” and said existence of a treaty. “I don’t think we have any interest
that the BIT is “good for China’s reform”, adding: ““We in an agreement for the sake of an agreement, so it will
are willing to push for a conclusion of the BIT as soon as either be a good, ambitious agreement or it will not
possible” (Chen 2016a). happen”, he said (Behsudi et al. 2016).
The urgency of these sentiments from the Chinese China-U.S. Focus summed up the situation succinctly
authorities’ side, however, seemed as if it was not exactly in August 2016 when it said that uncertainty surrounding
replicated over in Washington D.C. the BIT negotiations was “undeniable”. Mentioning
the volatility of the American domestic politics during
The BIT negotiations were indeed mentioned in a a presidential campaign season, with anti-free trade
September 2016 fact sheet issued by the White House’s rhetoric being linked to high domestic unemployment,
Office of the Press Secretary, which stated that: “The it concluded that the BIT talks going forward would face
United States and China recognize the significant challenges and difficulties (Wu 2016).
progress of the ongoing Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT)
negotiation toward a high-standard treaty reflecting the American Prospect was even more pessimistic. Although
shared objectives of non-discrimination, transparency, it acknowledged that the Obama administration called
and open and liberalized investment regimes”. The fact completing the BIT before the president leaves office a
sheet went on to say that both sides “commit to further “top economic priority” following an Obama-Xi meeting
intensify the negotiation with a view to concluding a in September, it said that concluding the BIT talks at
mutually beneficial and high-standard treaty” (Office of this point in time would “trigger a political explosion”. It
the Press Secretary 2016). pointed out that similar to other treaties, the BIT would
require a two-thirds vote for Senate ratification, difficult
However, The Diplomat, in March 2016, regarded to surmount during a year with a record Chinese trade
former Chinese commerce minister Chen Deming’s deficit (Dayen 2016).
optimistic remarks during the Boao Forum as “something
of a surprise” because it noted that BIT negotiations In the aftermath of the U.S. presidential election,
had “largely faded” from the American news cycle, political blog and news aggregator Transpacifica noted
overshadowed as it was by the South China Sea dispute, President-elect Donald Trump in a pre-recorded video
cyber security issues and the U.S. presidential campaign. message saying he would “issue a notification of intent
It mentioned that the BIT was not even acknowledged by to withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership”on “day 1”,
the White House’s results fact sheet following President moving up a previous timeline for bailing out of the TPP
Xi Jinping’s September 2015 visit to Washington D.C. in his first 100 days in office (Webster 2016).
and that no target date had still been set for the treaty’s
conclusion (Tiezzi 2016). So with the incoming administration at the White
House, the TPP may be dead in the water but what could
The China Daily, in June 2016, said that Jack Lew, the US this mean for the BIT going forward? In this post-Obama
secretary of treasury, mentioned that the latest negative scenario, the blog also cited Politico quoting U.S. Trade
list from China was “not sufficiently ambitious to open Representative Michael Froman who when referring to
enough of the economy for the BIT to have a successful the BIT, said: “conversations are ongoing. … I think it’s
path forward”. He said that while Obama-Xi talks during important that it be a high-standard agreement that
the sidelines of the September 2016 G20 summit in really reforms and opens up the Chinese economy and
Hangzhou would be “useful”, he added: “I can’t sit here creates real disciplines to address the kid of problems our
and warrant that it will be successful” (Chen 2016b). companies have had in that market. Again, we’ve made
real progress, but we’re not there yet” (Webster 2016).
100
At the conclusion of the JCCT talks, also in November Politico quoted the treasury secretary as saying that
2016, Zhang Xiangcheng, China’s deputy international he still hoped for the two sides to strike a deal before
trade representative, said during a press conference President Barack Obama leaves office on January 20th
that: ““No matter how the leadership changes in the and wanted to see “as much progress as possible” before
US, the shared interests of our countries far outweigh the September talks. But he also highlighted that the
our differences”, the China Daily reported. He described quality of the treaty mattered as much as the mere
BIT negotiations as “making positive progress” and said existence of a treaty. “I don’t think we have any interest
that the BIT is “good for China’s reform”, adding: ““We in an agreement for the sake of an agreement, so it will
are willing to push for a conclusion of the BIT as soon as either be a good, ambitious agreement or it will not
possible” (Chen 2016a). happen”, he said (Behsudi et al. 2016).
The urgency of these sentiments from the Chinese China-U.S. Focus summed up the situation succinctly
authorities’ side, however, seemed as if it was not exactly in August 2016 when it said that uncertainty surrounding
replicated over in Washington D.C. the BIT negotiations was “undeniable”. Mentioning
the volatility of the American domestic politics during
The BIT negotiations were indeed mentioned in a a presidential campaign season, with anti-free trade
September 2016 fact sheet issued by the White House’s rhetoric being linked to high domestic unemployment,
Office of the Press Secretary, which stated that: “The it concluded that the BIT talks going forward would face
United States and China recognize the significant challenges and difficulties (Wu 2016).
progress of the ongoing Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT)
negotiation toward a high-standard treaty reflecting the American Prospect was even more pessimistic. Although
shared objectives of non-discrimination, transparency, it acknowledged that the Obama administration called
and open and liberalized investment regimes”. The fact completing the BIT before the president leaves office a
sheet went on to say that both sides “commit to further “top economic priority” following an Obama-Xi meeting
intensify the negotiation with a view to concluding a in September, it said that concluding the BIT talks at
mutually beneficial and high-standard treaty” (Office of this point in time would “trigger a political explosion”. It
the Press Secretary 2016). pointed out that similar to other treaties, the BIT would
require a two-thirds vote for Senate ratification, difficult
However, The Diplomat, in March 2016, regarded to surmount during a year with a record Chinese trade
former Chinese commerce minister Chen Deming’s deficit (Dayen 2016).
optimistic remarks during the Boao Forum as “something
of a surprise” because it noted that BIT negotiations In the aftermath of the U.S. presidential election,
had “largely faded” from the American news cycle, political blog and news aggregator Transpacifica noted
overshadowed as it was by the South China Sea dispute, President-elect Donald Trump in a pre-recorded video
cyber security issues and the U.S. presidential campaign. message saying he would “issue a notification of intent
It mentioned that the BIT was not even acknowledged by to withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership”on “day 1”,
the White House’s results fact sheet following President moving up a previous timeline for bailing out of the TPP
Xi Jinping’s September 2015 visit to Washington D.C. in his first 100 days in office (Webster 2016).
and that no target date had still been set for the treaty’s
conclusion (Tiezzi 2016). So with the incoming administration at the White
House, the TPP may be dead in the water but what could
The China Daily, in June 2016, said that Jack Lew, the US this mean for the BIT going forward? In this post-Obama
secretary of treasury, mentioned that the latest negative scenario, the blog also cited Politico quoting U.S. Trade
list from China was “not sufficiently ambitious to open Representative Michael Froman who when referring to
enough of the economy for the BIT to have a successful the BIT, said: “conversations are ongoing. … I think it’s
path forward”. He said that while Obama-Xi talks during important that it be a high-standard agreement that
the sidelines of the September 2016 G20 summit in really reforms and opens up the Chinese economy and
Hangzhou would be “useful”, he added: “I can’t sit here creates real disciplines to address the kid of problems our
and warrant that it will be successful” (Chen 2016b). companies have had in that market. Again, we’ve made
real progress, but we’re not there yet” (Webster 2016).
100
