Michael Bloomberg, founder of Bloomberg L.P., speaks at the 2018 International Finance and Infrastructure Cooperation Forum in New York, the United States, on April 18, 2018. (Xinhua/Zhou Saang)
The United States and China, the most important trade partners to each other, need cooperation instead of trade wars, said Michael Bloomberg, founder of Bloomberg L.P., in New York Wednesday.
Bloomberg made the remarks at the 2018 International Finance and Infrastructure Cooperation Forum held jointly by Bloomberg L.P. and China General Chamber of Commerce-U.S.A. (CGCC) in New York.
"This forum comes at a critical juncture in the U.S. as leaders in Washington are considering new trade policies that would hamper economic growth and strain ties with nations around the world, including China," said Bloomberg.
"The U.S. and China are closely interconnected and each country has a strong stake in the economic prosperity of the other. Cooperation between the U.S. and China is critical to meeting all of the challenges facing our world, from economic growth and trade, to security and climate change," he said.
He said that China and the United States are top trading partners to each other, each benefiting from the other's success. "We'll benefit when we work together. There are so many ways that we can work to expand relationship between the United States and China," he said.
He said no country in history has undergone such extensive economic reforms and with as much success as China, adding that success is not only good for China, but also good for China's trading partners including the United States.
For the second year, the forum provides a high-level platform for companies in the United States and China to exchange perspectives, against the backdrop of an escalating trade spat between the two countries.
Song Xiangyan, Chief Representative for the Americas, People's Bank of China, introduced new measures of China's financial sector reforms. "The recent reform and opening-up measures in the Chinese financial sector will open new windows for the foreign investors to expand their business in China."
"Globalization and international trade have made a positive impact on the lives of billions of people around the world. This requires each and every one of us to take a 'global and multilateral' approach to build bridges and resolve our differences by seeking practical solutions," said Xu Chen, Chairman of CGCC, President and CEO of Bank of China USA.
According to a recent CGCC Business Survey Report on Chinese Enterprises in the U.S., Chinese companies directly create more than 140,000 U.S. jobs in the "Rust Belt" alone, including the states of Ohio and Michigan.
CGCC member companies have cumulatively invested over 120 billion dollars in the United States and currently support over 1 million jobs in the country.
"Both history and current reality show that the economic and trade cooperation have brought enormous benefits to our two countries and their peoples, and it now has become the bedrock of bilateral relations," he said.
Senior executives from KraneShares, Bloomberg, Vanguard, and Standard Chartered participated in a panel discussion on investing in China's bond market.
In another panel, experts from UBS, MSCI, Sigma Capital Management and Bank of China International discussed the investment opportunities and challenges in China's equity market.
Anthony Foxx, a former U.S. Secretary of Transportation and Managing Partner & Founder of Related Infrastructure, delivered a keynote speech on the policy, practicality and innovative opportunities in infrastructure development.
During the panels, government officials, representatives from leading infrastructure companies discussed the new financing paradigm of modern infrastructure in a global economy and cooperation.
