Travel Log 3: Secretary Bryson Travels to Nanjing

Secretary Bryson's visit to China continued today in Beijing where he started the morning with a breakfast with U.S. and Chinese CEOs.  The breakfast was led by Secretary Clinton and Secretary Geithner, with United States Trade Representative Ron Kirk and Ambassador Gary Locke also joining.  The group discussed the importance of the U.S - China economic relationship and what can be done to continue the growth of trade and investment between both countries.  Bilateral trade between the U.S. and China reached over $500 billion last year, with U.S. merchandise exports reaching $100 billion for the first time.  The Secretary's day continued as he joined Secretary Clinton and Secretary Geithner for separate meetings with Chinese President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao.  Bryson then joined Ambassador Kirk for lunch with their Chinese counterpart, Minister of Commerce Chen Deming.  Throughout the S&ED, Bryson has stressed the importance of the U.S. - China economic relationship and how it is critical that both sides follow through on commitments made not just at this S&ED, but at prior and future talks. Or as Bryson put it, "we must work harder... we must be bold... and we must follow through."  After the government meetings, Ambassador Kirk and Secretary Bryson participated in an event with the American Chamber of Commerce in China and the U.S. China Business Council.  There Kirk and Bryson heard straight from U.S. business leaders doing business here in China.  They discussed opportunities, challenges, and what the U.S. government can do to support increased exports from the United States to China.  

Secretary John Bryson spent his last day in China in the financial capital of Shanghai. He began his day with a group of American business leaders based in China. The leaders, members of American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai and the U.S.-China Business Council, exchanged ideas and shared information about the opportunities and challenges of day to day business operations in China. As Secretary Bryson said to the group, our bilateral trade with China reached over $500 billion last year, with U.S. merchandise exports reaching $100 billion for the first time. However, with a trade deficit close to $300 billion, we still have a lot of work to do.The Secretary then gave remarks at a tourism event, highlighting the robust and growing travel of Chinese tourists to the United States. In his remarks, Secretary Bryson pointed out that "travel and tourism between our countries is crucial to building stronger cultural and economic ties. This generates greater understanding and friendship between our people. And yes, it also generates greater prosperity."

Yesterday, U.S. Department of Commerce Secretary John Bryson co-chaired the 7th annual U.S.-Brazil CEO Forum meeting at the White House in efforts to boost our commercial ties with Brazil and continue opportunities to grow the U.S. economy.The Secretary was joined by Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Advisor for International Economic Affairs Michael Froman, Fernando Pimentel, Brazil’s Minister of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade, and Gleisi Hoffmann, Brazil’s Presidential Chief of Staff.Together with 24 CEO’s from the United States and Brazil, the coalition worked to provide joint recommendations to the two governments on ways to strengthen the U.S.-Brazil economic relationship and advance bilateral trade. Secretary Bryson praised the team on achieving key goals in their economic relationship, and encouraged further opportunity for even greater collaboration on trade investment, infrastructure, strategic energy, education and innovation. Secretary Bryson also announced that he will travel to Brazil for the next meeting this year.

Following his visit to Paris, France earlier this week, U.S. Commerce Secretary John Bryson visited Dusseldorf, Germany on Wednesday, before taking off for Berlin. Secretary Bryson is in Europe this week to meet with government and business leaders, reaffirm the United States’ commitment to lowering trade barriers, and encourage European businesses to invest in the U.S.In the morning, Secretary Bryson led a roundtable discussion with key members of the U.S. and German business community, including representatives from UPS, FedEx, and the American Chamber of Commerce, among others, as well as the Economics Minister of North Rhine Westphalia. The group discussed successes and challenges in trade and investment, as well as opportunities for continued cooperation and public-private partnerships, such as the Commerce Department partnerships with FedEx and UPS, to promote exports and build greater awareness of Commerce programs and initiatives to help small businesses. Secretary Bryson took the opportunity to encourage further German investment in the United States, highlighting the attractiveness of the investment climate and resources for potential investors, including SelectUSA, the first coordinated effort by the U.S. government to attract new business investments to America.

Dongguan, China — There are no signs outside this backstreet brothel at the heart of China’s “Sin City”, just a shadowy alleyway, two metal gates and a pimp named Crow. Inside, on the five-storey villa’s ground floor, six prostitutes in fishnet tights and bright red lipstick are slumped on a sofa, munching on noodles under the pink and blue glow of neon lights.

This weekend Secretary Bryson will be in Chengdu, China for the 22nd Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade (JCCT), the annual bilateral trade negotiations between the U.S. and China. Before going to Chengdu, the Secretary stopped in Beijing to meet with American business community and Chinese investors. He participated in a meeting with the American Chamber of Commerce (AMCHAM) and the U.S.-China Business Council (USCBC), and met with members of the Chinese business community to discuss bilateral trade and investment issues. Even though he was surrounded by wonderful local cuisine, Bryson stopped off at a local U.S. franchise – Subway – to highlight the success of American brands in China, and joined U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk to tour Wisconsin-made airport vehicles at the Beijing Airport.During the meeting with the American business community, Bryson shared his commitment to opening markets and leveling the playing field for U.S. companies in China and he pledged to take their issues to the JCCT meeting in Chengdu. The discussion focused on intellectual property protection, bilateral investment and China’s indigenous innovation practices.Bryson also met with Chinese business leaders to encourage them to invest - by establishing factories, facilities, operations and offices - in the United States and to help them better understand the opportunities and ease of investing in the U.S. China's foreign direct investment in America increased nearly twelve-fold (from $0.5 billion to $5.8 billion) between 2008 and 2010. The Obama administration recently announced Select USA - the first coordinated federal effort to aggressively pursue and win new business investment in the United States while cutting red tape and removing barriers.

Commerce, USTR and USDA welcome concrete results in trade negotiations, reiterate need to achieve greater market access for U.S. exportersToday marked the conclusion of the 22nd session of the U.S.-China Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade (JCCT) in Chengdu, China.  U.S. Secretary of Commerce John Bryson and United States Trade Representative Ron Kirk co-chaired the JCCT along with Chinese Vice Premier Wang Qishan. U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack also participated in the discussions. Secretary Bryson, Ambassador Kirk and Secretary Vilsack announced meaningful progress on key elements of the U.S.-China trade relationship but also underscored that much more work remains to be done to open China’s market to U.S. exports and investment.  Today’s progress will help boost U.S. exports and jobs through the removal of important barriers related to electric vehicles, strengthened measures to eliminate discriminatory indigenous innovation policies, and stricter enforcement of intellectual property rights in China.  “The JCCT gives us a mechanism to address the toughest issues in our trade relationship, and we must judge it by our ability to make concrete progress,” Ambassador Kirk said. “We have reached agreement on a number of important outcomes, though we had hoped to accomplish even more. In our discussions with our Chinese counterparts, we spoke frankly about the need to redouble our efforts going forward.” “Both sides worked hard to produce some meaningful progress that will help provide a needed boost to U.S. exports and jobs,” Secretary Bryson said. “This is a step in the right direction. But we must continue to actively engage our Chinese counterparts to open additional opportunities for U.S. businesses.” “China is one of the most important agricultural trade partners for the United States and the meetings and discussions in recent days have helped to strengthen this partnership and build greater export opportunities for our farmers, ranchers and growers,” said Agriculture Secretary Vilsack. “We intend to continue these discussions in the months ahead on beef and other agricultural products to break down additional trade barriers so Chinese consumers can benefit from the high quality products that are produced in America.”