Li Zhao on the Development of U.S. China Trade
June 14, 2017
*Reposted from www.youtube.com
Video Transcript
CGTN's Elaine Reyes: "I'm joined now by Li Zhao from Des Moines, Iowa. She's Co-founder and President of China Iowa Group. So what are your thoughts so far on this 100-day plan that we are into, conceived during President Xi's visit to Mar-A-Lago, do you think it was a turning point in the relationship and where do you think things stand at the moment?"
Li Zhao: "This is absolutely a turning point. I remember earlier on before the Mar-A-Lago summit when we were talking to our clients in China, people are genuinely concerned and worried whether President Trump was going to impose the tariff on goods and services going into the United States. After the Mar-A-Lago summit and particularly with the 100-day plan which clearly laid out what the two countries are going to do is very encouraging, the attitudes of our clients changed to be very optimistic about the two leaders and also the trade relationship between the two countries seems to be on the right track."
CGTN's Elaine Reyes: "And that being said, we have seen huge growth in the U.S. states export to China, we saw the new recent beef deal, will we see more of the same?"
Li Zhao: "Yes, and everyone knows the former Governor of Iowa is now in Washington D.C. receiving an orientation for the role of Ambassador to China. In many occasions, he will tell people he is looking to serving Iowa premium beef at the U.S. Embassy in China, so that really opens doors for beef producers here in the United States. We predict that other farm and agriculture products will follow suit as well."
CGTN's Elaine Reyes: "Now other areas of cooperation include services, education of course, and investment. Do you think we will see more growth in these areas where there is a lot in common?"
Li Zhao: "Most definitely, earlier I heard from the forum in New York as well as having the privilege to attend the forum being held in Des Moines this past Monday as well. One of the things we talked about was how Chinese enterprises investment in the United States has increased to $45 billion dollars in 2016, it increased by over 200% in one year. We have every reason to believe more and more Chinese investment will be coming to the United States. And one other area you just mentioned about the students, the statistics say that the average Chinese student spends about $45,000 in the United States, totaling about $16 billion dollars as a contribution to the U.S. economy."
CGTN's Elaine Reyes: "You mentioned the Chinese delegation visit to Iowa, also in New York at the moment, one of the keep points was to talk more about the one-belt and one-road initiative, we know that the United States is not a part of that but do you think that we could see individual states like Iowa and others take part? We have also heard that some companies are also interested in it."
Li Zhao: "Yes, during the symposium I heard many talk about, especially the agriculture machinery equipment manufacturers, want to be part of the one-belt one-road initiative, such as Caterpillar and John Deere. It presents them with a lot of opportunities to access markets out side of China who are a part of the one-belt one-road initiative."