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On Nov 15, China General Chamber of Commerce–USA (CGCC) hosted a roundtable discussion with the delegation from CPPCC Committee of Foreign Affairs at Bank of China New York Branch. The delegation was led by Zhou Wenzhong, Standing Committee member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), Vice Chairman of CPPCC Foreign Affairs Committee, Secretary-general of Boao Forum for Asia, Former Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, Former Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the People’s Republic of China to the United States of America. The roundtable discussion aims at investigating the current operation of Chinese enterprises in the US and assisting Chinese enterprises in solving problems they meet in the US. Representatives from over ten CGCC member companies participated in the discussion.
Xu Chen, Chairman of CGCC and President & CEO of Bank of China USA delivered the welcome remarks. He introduced to the delegation the development of Chinese enterprises in the US and the development of CGCC. He said, the structure of Chinese outbound investment to the US has undergone a major shift from the state-owned enterprises to private-owned enterprises in recent years. Although the total amount of Chinese investments in the US has relatively decreased this year, the structure is even more optimized. Zhao Yumin, Deputy Consul-General of the Chinese Consulate in New York also attended the discussion.
Ma Zhongping, Vice Chairman of CPPCC Foreign Affairs Committee, Former Chairman of the Shaanxi Provincial Committee of CPPCC stated the two main objectives of the roundtable discussion: first, to conduct exchanges and cooperation with the US and understand public opinion; second, to acquaint CPPCC with problems and challenges Chinese enterprises face when operating in the US.
Representatives from US Management Committee of ICBC, China Merchants Bank New York Branch, China Construction Bank New York Branch, Agricultural Bank of China New York Branch, China Construction America, Greenland USA, Baosteel America, China Re New York Liaison Office, CITIC Group New York Office and Broad U.S.A. introduced their businesses in the US, shared their developing experience and challenges they have confronted so far.
Representatives agreed that, benefiting from US high-level marketization, established legal system and strict environment protection policies, the initiatives of Chinese companies investing in US are still in full swing with no signs of cooling down. At the same time, representatives also brought some problems they met in the US, such as lack of transparency during the process of CFIUS reviews, unfair treatment against Chinese capital, extremely strict regulatory reviews to Chinese companies, especially to Chinese banks and insurance companies. Representatives stated that in the US market, Chinese companies rarely stand or fall alone, so they call for more supportive policies by the Chinese government. They also hope that government can pay more attention to overseas Chinese companies at the foreign policy decision-making level.
Zhou Wenzhong listened to the opinions from the representatives carefully and stated that the delegation will carefully study the issues and CPPCC Committee of Foreign Affairs will strive to improve their work on supporting business exchanges and cooperation between China and US.
Heartfelt thanks to all participating CGCC members for their support to this event!