Climate change and intellectual property rights were among the topics for, from left, Joshua Cooper Ramo of Kissinger Associates; CCTV anchor Rui Yang; Zachary Karabell of River Twice Research; Victor Zhikai Gao
of the Beijing Private Equity Association; and moderator James McGregor of JL McGregor & Company.
Immediately on taking office, President Obama emphasized that China and the United States must strengthen their sometimes rocky relationship. But at the end of the day, U.S. consumers represent the largest market for Chinese exports, and China is a major investor in U.S. Treasuries.
The U.S. and Chinese economies are so interconnected, the economic relationship is beyond the control of either government, according to Zachary Karabell, and that relationship has less to do with nation-state sovereignty than before.
Joshua Cooper Ramo said focusing on the economic relationship is too risky and restrictive because it precludes the ability address major challenges that are not economic in nature, especially issues of security and U.S. political values. But Karabell said bilateral economic interdependence provides a perspective through which other major issues can be understood.
On the issues of energy security and climate change, Victor Zhikai Gao argued that fingerpointing is useless because climate change now poses challenges to all countries. Highlighting the need for U.S.-China cooperation on climate change and energy issues, Gao said China is the second-largest oil importer and uses a third what that the U.S. uses. Per capita, China′s oil consumption is only one-thirteenth that of America′s. Gao advocated establishing an organization of petroleum-importing countries to encourage U.S.-China collaboration and avoid potential conflicts over oil sources.
Protecting intellectual property rights in China was a subject for debate. Karabell called intellectual property rights a "fetish" of American policymakers. And Gao said the concept of private property ownership is new to the Chinese. Americans should have patience as property rights protection develops in China, he said.
Ramo said China views its relationship with the U.S. through a prism of strategic significance. Rui Yang said the relationship is not viewed as a zero-sum game in China, where many leaders see many possibilities to cooperate with the U.S.
Global Conference 2013
Former Prime Minister Tony Blair, philanthropist Bill Gates and Strive Masiyiwa of Econet Wireless discuss advancing prosperity in Africa.
