Chinese Commerce Minister Chen Deming on Thursday met with Ron Kirk, the United States Trade Representative, to discuss ways to further enhance bilateral trade.
The meeting was made on the sidelines of the 44th ASEAN Economic Ministers Meeting and related meetings, which was opened on Monday and will last until Friday.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Kirk said the meeting was fruitful to boost trade between the U.S. and China. “We discussed lots of things; it is a very complex, but dynamic relationship,”he said.”Minister Chen and I should know that one of the few bright spots in the global economic environment is the relationship between China and the U.S., and we are committed to resolving trade inheritance so that the relationship continues to grow.”
Besides Sino-U.S. bilateral trade ties, the Chinese minister said his trip to Cambodia is successful and fruitful as several vital achievements had been made. “As one of the major achievements, Beijing, Tokyo and Seoul agreed to set up a new free trade zone which is likely to be started in November,”said Chen, “after that, ASEAN nations and their six FTA partners are intending to establish a bigger free trade zone. And the negotiation will kick off during the November summit”.
Currently, ASEAN has six individual free trade partners, namely China, Japan, Republic of Korea, India, New Zealand, and Australia. Chen wrapped up his trip to Cambodia and left for Beijing on Thursday.
Xinhua