Green technology cooperation may reshape US-China economic, trade direction
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Green technology may reshape US-China economic and trade direction if the two countries can address the issue comprehensively and remove related barriers, a U.S. China affairs expert said Thursday.
"I think the green technology has a tremendous potential for US-China cooperation," Kenneth Lieberthal, director of the John L. Thornton China Center and senior fellow in Foreign Policy and Global Economy and Development at Washington-based think tank Brookings Institute, told Xinhua in an interview.
"Green technology can be defined rather broadly, which could potentially comprise a significant percentage of the US-China economic and trade direction," Lieberthal said after his Beijing trip.
"There is a potential win-win here," he noted.
Under the annual high-level dialogue, the two countries address a full arrange of bilateral issues, among which, green technology was a high priority.
Lieberthal said the green technology involves various aspects, ranging from the more efficient burn of coal and carbon capture secretion to a variety of other issues such as electric vehicles and smart green technology. "The two countries' capabilities are complimentary each other very well."
During this year's S&ED, the United States and China have moved ahead on cooperation on many agreements, including electric vehicles and research development.
However, there are a lot of barriers to affect cooperation, including tariffs, non-tariffs barriers, some restrictions on technology, export and some other areas. Each can be technologically complicated and politically difficult.
He said the solution to these barriers needs to address them comprehensively. "We need to get together and try to develop a package of measures that would address this full array of obstacles to cooperation in the green technology."
In this regard, the S&ED can play a significant role, he said, recommending that the S&ED should appoint a bilateral committee to address that set of issues where the dialogue should be responsive.
Lieberthal said that if the two sides set up a relatively barrier-free part of the bilateral economic relationship, it will not only have a tremendous positive effect on the development application of green technology, but also demonstrate to both governments the advantages of having significant attention of reducing barriers to trade and investment.
"That will have significant spill over effect by example, demonstrate that a relatively more open approach on both sides can serve the interests of both sides and move our relationship ahead," he added.
