Xi's US visit to promote bilateral investment treaty negotiation: expert

NEW YORK - Chinese President Xi Jinping's upcoming state visit to the United States will push forward the negotiation for a bilateral investment treaty between China and the United States, a Chinese scholar said here Friday.

Expanding investment cooperation will propel China-US relations, said Huo Jianguo, a researcher with the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation.

Scholars and experts from Chinese and US universities, research institutes and think tanks held talks here to exchange viewpoints on Sino-US relations right ahead of Xi's state visit to Washington.

They also discussed such topics as China's reforms, Asian Pacific economic and trade cooperation and climate change.

The current Sino-US relations are at a historic stage where they enjoy the broadest cooperation, Wang Wen, executive director of Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at Renmin University of China told Xinhua.

China and the United States are developing a new model of major country relations and are on peaceful and relatively friendly terms without any signs of a "cold war", he said.

Xi's visit is an important confirmation of such a relationship. It has historic significance and tests the political wisdom of the two countries' strategy implementation teams, he added.

Some American experts said they have acquired a deeper and more comprehensive understanding of China's reforms through dialogues, and become more confident about the prospects of bilateral cooperation in economy and trade, climate change and other issues.

Some former US government officials and representatives from business and industrial communities also took part in the meeting.

Xi's state visit to the United States, the first since he took office in 2013, will take place on Sept 22-25.