The first official state visit to the United States by President Xi Jinping has been applauded as a great success, despite skepticism expressed by some before the trip.

Former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg congratulated Xi and US President Barack Obama for making progress in multiple areas of economic cooperation, especially the mutual pledge for continuing discussions to facilitate Chinese currency trading and clearing in the US.

"This will greatly elevate the bilateral relationship, boost bilateral trade, strengthen the competitiveness of US companies and further push forward the US financial industry," Bloomberg said on Friday.

Bloomberg was one of 94 CEOs who wrote to Obama and Xi on Sept 15 urging them to prioritize discussion of the Bilateral Investment Treaty, or BIT, during their summit in Washington. The letter was sent to the two presidents by the Paulson Institute and the US-China Business Council.

The summit has produced consensus on a wide range of issues, but the China-US Joint Presidential Statement on Climate Change, which was announced on Friday, has drawn the most attention. Both leaders pledged concrete actions to fight climate change.

Former US treasury secretary Henry Paulson praised China.

"I am pleased with China's announcements today, which demonstrate the country's serious commitment to addressing climate change, especially through domestic policy changes and actions," Paulson said in a statement on Friday.

"Specifically, China's promise to commit 2 billion yuan ($313.7 million) to help developing countries cope with climate impacts that are already being felt around the world aligns with US interests and actions," Paulson said.

Andrew Steer, president of the World Resources Institute, said on Friday that Obama and Xi are demonstrating courageous leadership on climate change. Both countries are moving forward with on-the-ground action to hasten the transition to a low-carbon economy.

"By committing at the highest level to a national carbon trading program, China is making its intentions clear to businesses and investors about its shift to a low-carbon economy," Steer said.

China's climate finance pledge is a watershed moment, Steer said. These new funding streams should reassure developing countries that climate finance will be available from a broader pool of contributors, he said.

Rhea Suh, president of the Natural Resources Defense Council, described the China-US climate agreement as "strong medicine".

"China is promising decisive action to cut carbon pollution at its source and to help replace dirty fossil fuels with clean energy, at home and abroad," Suh said. "It sends a powerful signal that China will join other countries in the global fight against this worldwide threat," she said.

Ben Schreiber, the climate and energy program director at Friends of the Earth, said he welcomes Xi's commitment to curbing carbon emissions, to limiting the financing of fossil fuel projects domestically and internationally and to providing capital to help the developing world move forward on a sustainable pathway.

chenweihua@chinadailyusa.com

(China Daily 09/28/2015 page4)