Investment treaty would serve Obama legacy

In total, Chinese companies invested about $14 billion in the US last year, a sixfold increase compared with 2005. This has brought Chinese FDI in the US to $40 billion. Chinese companies in the US have already created more than 70,000 jobs directly for Americans, as well as many indirect jobs.

At last week's gala dinner, senior executives from both US and Chinese firms, including multinational professional services provider Ernst & Young America, commercial real estate services giant CBRE and major pork producer WH Group, all talked about how the growing Chinese FDI in the US has helped create business opportunities for them. It is a win-win game.

The lack of a bilateral investment treaty between the two has caused major concerns for investors on both sides. While US companies are looking forward to the potential new opportunities a treaty would create, Chinese investors also hope to get more protections in the US.

In July, Ralls Corp, invested by executives of China's Sany Group, scored a victory for perseverance in suing Obama. A US federal appeals court ruled that the Obama administration violated Ralls' rights when it reviewed the company's purchase of several wind farms near a military facility in Oregon. The US Committee on Foreign Investment, which conducted the review, has often been criticized for its lack of transparency.

Even the $1.95 billion purchase of the Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York on Oct 6 by Anbang Insurance Group, a private Chinese insurer, seemed to acquire political overtones as US officials expressed concerns over national security.

Many Chinese firms are keenly interested in participating in infrastructure investment in the US. But with the paranoia over national security among US politicians these days, many opportunities that could potentially benefit both countries have been denied.

Entwined economic and trade relations have been a major anchor for the China-US relations over the decades. Concluding a bilateral investment treaty will help make that anchor even more solid. The treaty is a concrete and much needed measure supporting a new type of major-country relationship.

The author, based in Washington, is deputy editor of China Daily USA. chenweihua@chinadailyusa.com