The US-China Board of Investment, one of the key outcomes of the
May summitbetween US President
Donald Trumpand Chinese leader
Xi Jinping, is unlikely to be among the deliverables for their expected meeting next month in Washington, according to the head of a leading bilateral business group.
“I’m not seeing evidence yet that that’s going to be a sizeable deliverable for the next summit,” Sean Stein, the president of the
US-China Business Council, told the South China Morning Post.
“The US side and the Chinese side neither have really initiated the consultation process,” he said, adding that “it looks like neither side is ready yet for discussions with the private sector”.
In an email response to the South China Morning Post, the Chinese embassy in Washington said that economic and trade teams of both countries are “maintaining close communication regarding the relevant mechanisms”.
“We believe that the trade and investment councils will provide a platform for pragmatic discussions between the two countries on mutual concerns in the areas of trade and investment,” embassy spokesman Liu Chang said.
He added that the boards would help shift economic and trade consultations from “crisis response” to “mechanised management”.