国内英语新闻:China-U.S. Economic and Strategic Dialogue opens in Washington

    The top U.S. diplomat said that economic recovery is "critical" to the world, adding that many global issues are "within reach" if the two countries work together.

    To give prominence to the dialogue and the importance of U.S.-China relations, U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said at the opening ceremony in Mandarin Chinese that "when you are in a common boat, you need to cross the river peacefully together."

    State Councilor Dai also gave a short speech, saying that he is optimistic with the future of bilateral relations although the two countries have differences in some areas.

Chinese State Councilor Dai Bingguo (1st L) delivers a speech while U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (2nd R) and U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner (1st R) listen to during the opening ceremony of the China-U.S. Strategic and Economic Dialogue (S&ED) in Washington, the United States, July 27, 2009

According to the Chinese Foreign Ministry and the U.S State Department, Dai will co-chair the "Strategic Track" of the dialogue with Clinton, while Vice Premier Wang will co-chair the "Economic Track" with Geithner, each as a special representative of their respective presidents.

    Chinese and U.S. officials will give closing statements to reporters after the dialogue and respective briefings to announce results of the dialogue.

    During their stay, Chinese officials will also meet with U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, former U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, World Bank Chief Economist Justin Yifu Lin, congressmen and other officials.

    Wang will deliver a speech at a banquet to be hosted on Tuesday evening by the National Council for U.S.-China Trade and the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations.

    The dialogue mechanism was upgraded from former Strategic Dialogue and biennial Strategic Economic Dialogue, which were initiated by the two heads of state in 2005 and 2006, respectively.

    Following the opening ceremony of the dialogue, officials of China and the United States will have a face-to-face plenary session before the strategic track of the S&ED to be held at the State Department Building while the economic track will first be held in Ronald Reagan Building before moving to the Treasury Department Building.

    The two-day dialogue will focus on addressing the challenges and opportunities that both countries face on a wide range of bilateral, regional and global areas of immediate and long-term strategic and economic interests.