US official hails results of trade talks with China

WASHINGTON -- A senior US trade official said Friday that the latest round of the US-China high-level talks on trade and commerce produced concrete results.

The 2014 session of the US-China Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade (JCCT), which concluded on Thursday in Chicago, delivered tangible outcomes in sectors including agriculture and high-tech exports, said Undersecretary of Commerce Stefan Selig.

"We are the two largest economies in the world that have never been so intertwined and connected than ever before," Selig told reporters.

He said US exports to China have created jobs domestically and China is currently America's fastest-growing source of foreign direct investment.

Stressing that better trade relations between America and China are the purpose of the JCCT, Selig said better relations would help both countries deal with recent anti-dumping and countervailing cases.

"A better relationship we have overall will allow us to deal with those issues when they come out from time to time and will allow us to continue making progress on other important issues without having those things that come between us from time to time fundamentally impact the nature of our relationship," he said.

Launched in 1983, the JCCT plays an important role in promoting China-US economic cooperation and addressing trade issues.