This week, Joe Biden will host Xi Jinping in the United States, in a historic meeting between our two countries’ Vice Presidents. The visit will take place almost exactly 40 years after President Nixon’s historic visit to China in February, 1972. Looking back, there is much to celebrate regarding our relationship, which has brought long-lasting benefits for our two countries, including significant economic gains for both of our peoples.
China’s remarkable growth was sparked by its own economic reforms, ingenuity, and hard work. Yet it was also made possible by greater access to international markets, new technologies, and direct investment from the United States and other major economies.
The United States has also benefited greatly from our relationship. We exported almost $104 billion worth of goods to China last year, up 13% over 2010 and more than 40% higher than 2009. In this time of economic recovery, we especially value our trade relationship with China.
Our economies certainly complement one another. China is the largest export market for U.S. agricultural products. Last year, China made large purchases of U.S. corn.Record U.S. exports of agricultural commodities overall helped create American jobs in farming states such as Iowa, a state that Vice President Xi will be visiting. These timely exports in turn helped China by reducing food price inflation on foodstuffs affected by drought and disease.
In the field of education, China is gaining access to world-class universities and colleges in the U.S. In my home state, the University of Washington reported that foreign students comprise almost 18 percent of its incoming class this year — the vast majority of which are Chinese. In this growing, nationwide trend, U.S. schools benefit not only from tuition revenues, but also by offering American students the opportunity to forge bonds with China’s future leaders. This promotes the kind of mutual understanding that will be so important to our two peoples in the years ahead. Recognizing the value of these interactions, President Obama announced in 2009 the 100,000 Strong Initiative, his administration’s signature effort to increase the number of American students learning Mandarin and studying abroad in China – a significant, long-term investment in the shared progress of our countries.
Even in areas that require improvement in the U.S.-China relationship, we have fundamentally common interests. We want market-based exchange and interest rates, as well as protection of intellectual property. Over the long-term, so does China. China’s own Five-Year Plan seeks to move its economy away from heavy industry-based, export-led growth toward a sustainable economic model — one driven by innovation and higher household expenditures. Innovation can only thrive where intellectual property is protected. Household savings and spending can only grow when families earn reasonable returns on their savings.
We know that what China wants is better access to travel visas, high technology goods, and investment opportunities in the U.S. market. Not one of these goals is fundamentally at odds with U.S. interests. The U.S. travel industry benefits from having more Chinese visitors. U.S. companies would benefit from increased exports of high-tech goods for civilian end-use. And Americans have greater job opportunities when Chinese companies set up factories or offices in the United States.
It is also in the interests of both countries to see China’s ongoing economic reforms succeed, for instance, to reduce its reliance on credit subsidies and market access preferences for inefficient state-owned enterprises, to abide by its international commitments to prevent technology theft, and to allow foreign companies to compete for government procurement contracts.
We support China’s efforts to increase public spending on health and education, to establish a strong social safety net for the poor and elderly, and to expand consumer access to financial services. These are areas where the United States has resources and experience that can benefit Chinese citizens.
The U.S. and China both face many challenges and uncertainties. Yet in that uncertainty, there is great opportunity for an even stronger, more mutually beneficial relationship between our two great nations. Vice President Xi Jinping’s historic visit to the U.S. has the potential to reinvigorate our economic and cultural ties, leading to the coming round of the annual Strategic & Economic Dialogue, and enhancing our many state and provincial level exchanges.
We've come a long way these past forty years. Vice President Xi may notice some superficial changes when he visits Washington D.C., Iowa, and California this month. But the welcome he receives from everyday Americans will be just as warm as it was when he visited in 1985, as a local government official. We Americans are increasingly aware of our shared destiny with China and we look forward to a deep and lasting friendship. Here’s to another forty years of progress—and then some.