China-US economic and trade cooperation will be seriously harmed if the US Congress passes pending China-related bills in their current form, Finance Minister Xie Xuren, shown here, was reported as saying by the official Xinhua news agency.

Xie made the remarks in an interview with Xinhua prior to the Third China-US Strategic Economic Dialogue (SED) this week.

He was referring to 50 items of legislation concerning US economic and trade ties with China proposed by some members of Congress since the beginning of the year.

He said the uncompleted legislation represents ‘noise’ in the US-China relationship but added that he believes ties can weather the wave of protectionism.

He further said, ‘The noise we hear now cannot impede the further development of China-US economic and trade cooperation. These achievements have not come easily and should be all the more cherished. The two sides should properly address issues in current economic and trade relations through dialog and consultation to jointly safeguard the mutually beneficial and win-win economic and trade relations between China and the United States.’

The third SED, which will be held in Beijing from Dec 12-13, will be co-chaired by the special representatives of the two presidents — Chinese Vice Premier Wu Yi and US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson.
Source: Thomson FX Hub