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1st LD-Writethru: China, U.S. agree to accelerate BIT talks

Xinhua, June 7, 2016 Adjust font size:

Senior Chinese and U.S. officials have agreed to speed up negotiations on a bilateral investment treaty (BIT) during the Eighth Round of China-U.S. Strategic and Economic Dialogues (S&ED).

"The two countries will exchange new 'negative list' offers in mid-June," Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang told a news briefing here on Tuesday.

"We will try to reach a mutually beneficial and high-level agreement at an early date," he said.

A negative list outlines sectors closed to foreign investment. The last time the two sides exchanged such lists was in early September last year.

China and the United States started to negotiate a BIT in 2008 and 24 rounds of talks were held ahead of the eighth S&ED as both countries sought to increase mutual investment.

According to Wang, the two sides will continue to discuss the issue of export controls through the China-U.S. High Technology and Strategic Trade Working Group.

The two countries will try to achieve mutual recognition of airworthiness for transport aircraft.

China and the United States promised to promote province-state and city-city trade and investment cooperation.

The two countries also aim to complete peer review of fossil fuel subsidies within the G20 framework ahead of the Hangzhou summit in September, said the vice premier.

Both sides also agreed to strengthen communication and cooperation on infrastructure construction, intellectual property right protection, agriculture, small and medium-sized enterprises, clean energy R&D and economic policy study, said Wang. Endi