Back in April, the US and China started the clock on a 100-day action plan. It’s seen as tangible evidence of trade cooperation between Presidents Xi Jinping and Donald Trump, at their Mar-a-Lago summit. 100 days later, how much has been accomplished?
CGTN’s Jessica Stone takes a look.
June was a busy month for the 100-day action plan. On June 16, the first shipment of U.S. beef went through Chinese inspections. Also in June, Chinese cooked chicken arrived in the United States. The U.S. also proposed a rule to allow Chinese-raised-and-cooked chicken to enter the United States. But, it hasn’t yet been given the green light by the White House. As for the pledge by China to rule
on the import of 8 U.S. biotech crops, it’s partially done. Four of the eight have been approved: one corn and one soybean variety.
On Beijing’s pledge to buy U.S. natural gas, China has already imported more than 400-thousand tons this year. But, there are supposed to be more discussions with Cheniere,
the first U.S. gas company approved to export, while the Chinese delegation is here in Washington.
Beijing also promised to allow foreign credit ratings agencies to operate inside the country. That’s designed to help increase foreign investment. The People’s Bank of China is working toward that goal, publishing rules and registration requirements. “We are encouraged by the policies of the Chinese government to open the Chinese capital markets, including to the CRA industry,” Moody spokesperson George Zhu said.
The U.S. has agreed to hold off enforcement action on the Shanghai clearing house for not registering as a derivatives clearing organization. The People’s Bank of China and the U.S. regulator, CFTC, are working on a memorandum of understanding on the oversight of cross-border clearing organizations. Credit card access to China remains half finished.
“The PBOC issued final servicing guidelines on June 30th, which allow foreign companies to apply for a payment clearing and settlement license,” an industry source said, but there are no guidelines yet for cards that use two networks.
Both J.P. Morgan Chase and Citibank were issued bond licenses back in February and the U.S. sent delegates to the Belt and Road Forum in Beijing in May. A press conference at the end of Wednesday’s dialogue could bring more updates.