Foreign businesses are asking questions whether they are welcome in China, U.S. Treasury Secretary, Jack Lew told Beijing officials on Tuesday.
“Concerns about the business climate have grown in recent years, with foreign businesses confronting a more complex regulatory environment in China,” Lew said.
Lew on the second day of high-level meetings in Beijing between U.S. and Chinese officials also called on China to improve policy transparency and intellectual property rights.
“Our two governments have a responsibility to foster conditions that facilitate continued and increased investment, trade and commercial cooperation.
“This means enacting policies that encourage healthy competition, ensuring predictability and transparency in the policy-making and regulatory process, protecting intellectual property rights and removing discriminatory investment barriers,”he said.
China’s Finance Minister, Lou Jiwei had on Monday said that China was willing to let market forces play a bigger role and to work alongside the international community to strengthen policy coordination and boost growth potential.
“China has bid farewell to the planned economy, so the government cannot dictate to industries,” he said.
The eighth China-U.S. Strategic and Economic Dialogue and the seventh China-U.S. High-Level Consultation on People-to-People Exchange end on Tuesday.
The two countries have been discussing issues including advancing bilateral relations, improving cooperation on climate change and managing areas of conflict. (dpa/NAN)