CRI听力:China will carry on opening policy: Vice Premier

Vice Premier Wang Yang made the remarks ahead of this year's meeting of the Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade, also known as JCCT.

He said China is now America's biggest trade partner.

"During the eight-year-tenure of the Obama administration, despite an inclement environment for world trade, bilateral trade between China and the United Statess actually picked up a strong momentum and registered an annual increase of seven percent."

22% of cotton and 56% of soy beans produced in the United States last year were exported to China. Meanwhile, more than a quarter of the aircraft made by Boeing were sold to China.

Earlier, U.S. trade representative Michael Froman noted that US exports to China witnessed an eleven-fold-increase from 2000 to 2015 while China's exports to the United States increased seven fold.

But there is still huge room for future cooperation. Wang Yang said the two economies are complementary, and that the existing cooperation has provided millions of jobs for both countries.

Wang Yang said that with an increasingly close trade relationship there is also an increasing number of disputes between the two sides.

"Handling our disagreements in a positive way and solving the disputes effectively is a dynamic engine to promote China-US economic cooperation."

The Vice Premier reassured US business leaders that China will stick to its opening-up policy and elaborated on China's efforts in this regard, including the negotiation of a Bilateral

Investment Treaty and the establishment of the Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone.

Wang said that opening-up does not only mean encouraging foreign investment to China, but also encouraging Chinese enterprises to go out and invest overseas. He said he hoped the US government would also create a favorable environment for Chinese investment.

Xiaohong, CRI, Washington DC.