Locke urges China to lift investment restrictions

駱家輝呼吁中國(guó)減少在華投資限制

U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke urged the Chinese government on Wednesday to lift investment restrictions on foreign companies operating in the country.

In a speech at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington D.C., Locke expressed concerns over Chinese political transparency and intellectual property right protections in China.

"Now, a lack of transparency and lax intellectual property protections all indirectly make it less appealing for foreign companies to invest in China," Locke said.

Locke singled out China's revised foreign-investment catalogue, saying that the new catalogue did not meet the promises China made last year to lift prohibitions on industries dominated by U.S. firms.

But Locke also admitted that Chinese investment benefits the U.S. economy. China's foreign direct investment (FDI) "is good for American workers and good for American businesses," he said.

Locke made the remarks ahead of the annual U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue, which will be held on May 9-10 in Washington, DC.

According to the report jointly released by Asia Society's Center on U.S.-China Relations and the Kissinger Institute on China and the United States, China's outbound FDI will reach US$1 to $2 trillion by 2020 and will bring huge economic benefits to the U.S. The report also warned that the U.S. "may squander immense opportunities for employment and investment gains through political fear-mongering."

美國(guó)商務(wù)部長(zhǎng)駱家輝4號(hào)呼吁中國(guó)政府減少對(duì)美國(guó)公司在華投資的限制。

美國(guó)商務(wù)部長(zhǎng)駱家輝在華盛頓伍德羅威爾遜中心發(fā)表演說，批評(píng)了中國(guó)的政策透明度和知識(shí)產(chǎn)權(quán)保護(hù)力度的不足。

“目前，缺乏透明度和知識(shí)產(chǎn)權(quán)保護(hù)的松懈使得外國(guó)公司在中國(guó)的投資環(huán)境吸引力下降?！瘪樇逸x表示。

駱家輝提到了中國(guó)最新修訂的外商投資產(chǎn)業(yè)指導(dǎo)目錄，認(rèn)為該目錄沒有兌現(xiàn)去年中國(guó)所承諾的開放一些美國(guó)公司強(qiáng)項(xiàng)的投資領(lǐng)域。

但駱家輝同時(shí)也承認(rèn)美國(guó)經(jīng)濟(jì)受惠于來自中國(guó)的投資。中國(guó)的對(duì)外直接投資“對(duì)美國(guó)工人是好事，對(duì)美國(guó)企業(yè)也是好事。”駱家輝說道。

駱家輝的此番演講發(fā)表于中美戰(zhàn)略經(jīng)濟(jì)對(duì)話前夕，本輪對(duì)話將于5月9-10日再華盛頓舉行。

美國(guó)智庫(kù)亞洲協(xié)會(huì)和基辛格中美關(guān)系研究所周三發(fā)布了一份起迄今止最為全面的中國(guó)對(duì)美直接投資的報(bào)告，報(bào)告顯示2020年中國(guó)對(duì)外直接投資將高達(dá)1萬至2萬億美元，可能給美國(guó)帶來巨大經(jīng)濟(jì)利益。報(bào)告警告，如果美國(guó)在政治上宣揚(yáng)恐華，會(huì)導(dǎo)致美國(guó)措施增加就業(yè)和投資的良機(jī)。