On a recent trip to Beijing, Institute Chairman Hank Paulson met with Chinese President Xi Jinping and discussed China’s economic reform plans and U.S.-China relations.
During the meeting on April 19, Xi said that China will continue to promote “supply-side structural reform” and advance the quality and efficiency of economic development to form balanced development. He stressed that China’s reform and opening up will “never stop,” according to a Xinhua News account.
Paulson noted the importance of U.S.-China bilateral ties, saying that the achievements of bilateral cooperation in various fields such as trade and economy, environment, and climate change have played a positive role in advancing U.S.-China ties. In the face of uncertainties in the world economy, China’s perseverance in deepening reform and promoting restructuring is admirable, Paulson said.
Paulson also stressed that China’s further reform and opening up will provide more opportunities for economic and trade cooperation between the two countries. He urged the two sides to push ahead with the negotiations on a bilateral investment deal.
During the visit, Paulson also co-hosted a US-China Roundtable on the Green Building Energy Efficiency Fund, which was announced last September during President Xi’s visit to the United States. The Paulson Institute is working with the Chinese government to help launch the fund, which aims to drive the development of environmentally sustainable buildings through the deployment of U.S. technology.
The intent of the fund is to enable and accelerate the deployment of U.S. technology and expertise in the Chinese market to substantially reduce CO2 and other climate-related emissions, while improving energy efficiency, promoting industrial productivity, encouraging cross-border innovation, and creating green jobs. To achieve those goals, the fund aims to find ways to bridge the higher upfront costs of green technologies with the longer-term returns. The goal in developing this unique cross-border Public Private Partnership is to marry the best of U.S. technology, know-how and experience with Chinese creativity, market scale and rapid commercialization.
At the meeting, top Chinese officials from the People’s Bank of China, the Central Banking Regulatory Commission, the China Securities Regulatory Commission, the China Insurance Regulatory Commission, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, the National Energy Administration, and the National Development and Reform Commission all spoke about the importance of green finance.
