L*********d 发帖数: 7037 | 1 BEIJING — The US ambassador to China on Tuesday hit out at the business
climate in the world's second largest economy, urging it to open up further
to foreign business and exports.
Speaking to hundreds of US and Chinese business leaders, Gary Locke also
urged the creation of a top-level structure to stamp out intellectual
property theft.
His speech comes ahead of "a major trade enforcement action against China"
to be announced by US Trade Representative Ron Kirk later Tuesday, according
to an advisory issued by his office that provided no further details.
"China's current business climate is causing growing frustrations among
foreign business and government leaders, including my colleagues in
Washington," Locke said.
He said foreign businesses faced "substantial restrictions in participating
in a variety of Chinese industries, ranging from healthcare to energy to
financial services and several others".
"And in industries like mining, power generation and transportation, the
Chinese government selects national champions and effectively shuts out
foreign competition altogether," he said.
His comments reflect a report released earlier this month by the European
Union Chamber of Commerce, which said China was setting up new obstacles for
foreign companies wanting to invest in the Asian nation.
Locke said he would take US trade delegations to emerging Chinese cities to
target cooperation in clean and renewable energy, railways, healthcare,
aviation and information and communication technologies, in a bid to expand
business ties between the United States and China.
He also added he would push for reforms of the visa application process that
sometimes stalls Chinese investors from engaging in America's struggling
economy.
Singling out China's rampant piracy software as an area for improvement,
Locke said that only eight US cents of legal software was sold in China for
every $1 in computer hardware, compared with $0.88 sold in the US.
Locke called on China to create "a permanent State Council-level leadership
structure to lead and coordinate IPR enforcement efforts at all levels of
government focused on serious IP theft," including growing Internet piracy.
The State Council is China's cabinet, headed by Premier Wen Jiabao.
Locke was speaking at an American Chamber of Commerce and US-China Business
Council event, where guests included Zhou Wenzhong, China's former
ambassador to Washington, and Fu Chengyu, chairman of Sinopec, Asia's
largest refiner.
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