On 29 October, three weeks before US President Barack Obama’s first visit to Asia, China and the US resolved a number of trade issues at a meeting in Hangzhou. China said it would lift a ban on the import of US pork, which had been introduced as a result of the swine flu outbreak earlier in 2009. It also agreed to remove local content requirements in tenders for wind power generation equipment, and to treat Sino-foreign joint ventures as domestic businesses in bidding for government procurement contracts. The US trade representative involved in the talks claimed that China would also submit an offer to join the WTO’s government procurement agreement by 2010.
For its part, the US agreed to set up a joint working group on the issue of awarding “market economy status” to China. China has consistently sought such status, which would make it more difficult for the US to accuse it of dumping.
But despite the apparent progress in Hangzhou, trade issues still featured in President Obama’s visit to China in November, with President Hu Jintao emphasizing the need to oppose protectionism.
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