China, US to resume investment protection talks

China and the United States will hold the seventh round of technical-level negotiations on a two-way investment protection agreement soon.

Chinese Vice Minister of Finance Zhu Guangyao told a press briefing on Saturday morning that the upcoming fourth round of the China-US Economic Dialogue, under the framework of the China-US Strategic and Economic Dialogue (S&ED), will announce the resumption of the negotiations.

Zhu said the two countries attach great importance to the resumption of the negotiations and have held six rounds of talks with the promotion of the S&ED.

He said the negotiations were suspended due to the US side's internal assessment of the text, and their internal consultations and review of the text have finished, according to the US side.

"The Chinese side is glad that the negotiations will resume on the sidelines of the fourth round of the S&ED," Zhu said, adding that technical work for the seventh round of negotiations will begin immediately.

The vice minister said China welcomes the two countries to promote the negotiations on the agreement on the principle settled upon by two heads of state that the two countries will work toward a cooperative partnership featuring mutual respect and reciprocity.

The Chinese side expressed hope that the two sides would conclude all negotiations through their joint efforts, Zhu said.

The negotiation on two-way investment protection agreement was launched on the fourth China-US Strategic and Economic Dialogue (SED) in June 2008.