Baucus says investment pact will open new chapter in ties

Max Baucus, US ambassador to China, speaks to hundreds of members of the American Chamber of Commerce in China in Beijing on Wednesday. This is his first public speech since assuming the post earlier this year.[Photo/China Daily]

US envoy sees China poised for another round of broadbased economic reform

The new United States ambassador to China, Max Baucus, said on Wednesday that advancing a bilateral investment treaty between the world's two largest economies will be his top priority.

"While we still have a lot of work to do for concluding the treaty, helping move it forward would be a top priority of mine. I am going to work very hard to make this bilateral investment treaty successful,"Baucus said while addressing members of the American Chamber of Commerce in China, in his first public speech in the country.

A member of the Democratic Party, Baucus was appointed to the post by US President Barack Obama in February, succeeding Gary Locke.

When he was in the US Senate, Baucus strongly supported permanent normal trade relations with China and China's subsequent entry into the World Trade Organization.

China and the US started discussing the treaty in 2008, but talks stalled with China's insistence on a long list of protection for some sectors.

The two sides restarted negotiations in July 2013 for a pact that incorporates national treatment for both new and existing investments while having a "negative list"to cover all investments except those specifically excluded.

The 13th round of negotiations was held in Beijing from June 9 to 13.

"The US-China bilateral investment treaty ... can do for China's investment climate what the WTO accession did ... Back then it was trade, now the BIT can help open up China's trading climate, its markets, particularly its service industries and help rebalance in a more sustainable direction and create better jobs for its growing number of college graduates,"Baucus said.

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