CHINA WORKING GROUP

CSI's China Working Group monitors trade issues including China's implementation of its WTO commitments. The Working Group sponsors a range of contacts in the People's Republic of China with the goal of developing a Chinese counterpart to the CSI and joint programs with Chinese organizations. CSI will also continue to seek further liberalization of trade in China's services industries through, among others, the following initiatives:

  1. CSI Visiting Fellows Program: Mid-level officials from China's Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation (MOFTEC) learn about the vibrant U.S. service sector through fellowships at CSI.

  2. Development Research Center Program: The Development Research Center (DRC) of China's State Council will work with CSI to organize high-level services events.

  3. Electronic Commerce and Logistics: CSI and various Chinese organizations are engaged in dialogue and activities to promote e-commerce liberalization in China, and the growth of a vibrant logistics services industry.
Recent Documents and Activities

March 1, 2007: Statement by the Coalition of Service Industries on China's Implementation of WTO Commitments Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee Hearing.

September 14, 2006: CSI President Bob Vastine submits a statement for a Trade Policy Committee hearing on China's WTO compliance.

March 21, 2006: CSI highlights its priorities for the April JCCT Plenary session in a letter to the U.S. Secretary of Commerce and the USTR.

October 18, 2005: CSI Chairman Norman Sorensen reinforces message of free trade in his letter to the China World Cities Service Industries Convention in Wuxi.

October 3, 2005: CSI sends a letter to Timothy Stratford, the new Assistant USTR for China Affairs, to suggest including our members' issues in the agenda for the US-China telecom dialogue. The dialogue was launched at the last Plenary Meeting of the US-China Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade (JCCT) in July.

September 14, 2005: CSI President Bob Vastine testifies before the Trade Policy Staff Committee Hearing and underlines China's continued WTO compliance issues.

September 7, 2005: CSI submits statement for the Trade Policy Staff Committee Hearing on China's WTO compliance.

June 13, 2005: Norman Sorensen’s statement at the plenary panel "WTO and the Global Economy: Maximizing the Benefits and Sustaining Growth" Pacific Basin Economic Council Conference in Hong Kong.

June 9, 2005: Norman Sorensen’s statement "Services Trade Development in Economic Globalization" at the Forum "World Trade in Services: Opening, Cooperation, Development" in Shanghai.

World Services Trade Forum in Shanghai,
June 9-10, 2005: China's Ministry of Commerce and the Shanghai Municipal Government will hold the Industry Forum "World Trade in Services: Opening, Cooperation, Development." CSI and services associations from Australia, Europe, Hong Kong, and Japan are among the Forum's supporting organizations. The Forum will discuss current trends in global services trade, objectives for WTO services negotiations, and China’s participation in these negotiations. Forum speakers will include Chinese State Council’s Vice Premier Wu Yi, WTO Director General Supachai Panitchpakdi, Commerce Minister Bo Xilai and other high level representatives from the government and private sector. For more information and to register, please visit http://www.sccwto.net:7001/wto/smlt/english/index.htm.

April 28, 2005: USCSI Statement to the Ways and Means Committee on China's WTO Compliance.

Archives of China Working Group Documents and Activities.
HIGHLIGHTS

CSI President Bob Vastine during a December 2007 visit to Shenzhen, China.  He was in China to attend the  Shenzhen International Conference on the Service Industry.

 

 

 

 

 

Above: H.E. Zhou Wenzhong, the newly-appointed Chinese Ambassador to the United States, with CSI President Robert Vastine at a dinner with CSI members in Washington on May 18, 2005.

 

 

 

 

 

Above: CSI Chairman Norman Sorensen, (first row, at left) during the China International Services Convention and Exposition on June 30, 2004, at which he made a major address on the potential of China’s service sector. Pictured in the first row from the right are Vice Premier Zeng Peiyan and Bill Gates of Microsoft.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Above: Mr. Duan Zemin, Director of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, at a meeting with CSI members on March 9, 2004. At left is Mr. Ray Sander, Chairman of CSI's China Working Group and Senior Vice President, International Governmental Affairs, New York Life International. At right is CSI President Robert Vastine.

Above: CSI President Robert Vastine (seated, center) testifies at the February 5, 2004 hearing of the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission.