Vision China to put ties in focus

Leading voices on China-US relations will gather in New York on Tuesday to discuss how both countries and the rest of the world have benefited from the two nations' economic and political ties and how they should work out current differences and cooperate in the future.

Diplomats, business leaders, economists and other witnesses to the relationship will share their vision on the past and future of the 40-year relationship at Vision China, an event hosted by China Daily and the Bank of China at Asia Society.

The half-day event, "China-US Relations: 40 Years & Beyond", comes at a pivotal point as a 14-month trade dispute has cast uncertainty on the relationship, which in the past 40 years has overcome countless challenges.

Chinese Ambassador to the US Cui Tiankai will deliver the keynote speech at the event. Cui, who has served as China's top envoy to the US for more than six years, has repeatedly stressed that cooperation is the only right option for both countries.

Despite the two countries' differences and drastic changes over the past 40 years, the bilateral relationship will remain among the world's most important, whose sound development will continue to benefit all, Cui said at a June 18 reception on Capitol Hill celebrating the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations.

Cui will be joined by a number of distinguished speakers, including Connie Sweeris, a player behind the ice-breaking "ping-pong diplomacy" of the 1970s; Kenneth Quinn, president of The World Food Prize Foundation and former US ambassador to Cambodia; Stephen Roach, senior fellow at the Yale University Jackson Institute of Global Affairs, former chief economist at Morgan Stanley and chairman of Morgan Stanley Asia; Craig Allen, president of the US-China Business Council and former US ambassador to Brunei, and Xu Chen, president and CEO of Bank of China USA, who is also Chairman of China General Chamber of Commerce-USA.

Maurice Greenberg, chairman and CEO of Starr Companies, will address the audience.

Chinese Consul General in New York Huang Ping will also attend the event.

The event also will feature a panel discussion on Chinese companies' investment in the US, which has dropped significantly in the past two years.

Panel members will include Xiao Yuqiang, chairman of the US Management Committee of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China; Vivek K. Sarin, interim secretary of the Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development; and Jeff Liu, president and CEO of Fuyao Group North America.

The panelists will share their insights on business opportunities and challenges in today's environment.

The New York event will be the eighth Vision China since it was launched in 2018. Each event has featured global opinion leaders invited to discuss Chinese topics of international significance.