‘Platform to unite both sides:’ UPenn’s China summit amidst trade tensions

World Today

The University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business hosted its annual Penn Wharton China Summit, organized by the school’s Chinese students. The event drew more attention than usual this year due to the rising tensions between the U.S. and China.

CGTN’s Karina Huber has more:

The looming threat of a trade war between the world’s two biggest economies took center stage at the Wharton School of Business’s annual Penn Wharton China Summit.

Top Chinese official Fu Ying was one of the headline speakers.

“In the past few weeks, the U.S. is threatening tough trade measures against China, putting more strains in our relationship,” the vice chairperson of the NPC Foreign Affairs Committee said. “So, the question is: where does the current U.S. administration want to take our relationship?”

U.S. President Donald Trump says he is seeking fairer trade with China, and wants the country to make more efforts to protect U.S. firms’ intellectual property.

According to Fu, China’s growing economy and rising stature on the world stage is part of what’s driving distrust of China in some countries.

“We’re increasingly aware of the responsibilities we need to shoulder for the world, and the expectations and concerns from the world. We need to communicate better our views and intentions and in a prompt and convincing manner so that the world can better understand us.”

The event’s organizers said they hoped summits like theirs could help narrow that trust deficit, by creating a “platform to unite both sides.”

“Our perspective doesn’t only represent China’s view of how things are going, but also a more international view of the entire U.S.-China relationship,” according to summit co-president Ni Ruoyang. “We have understood the issue from a more holistic standpoint.”