July 24, 2007
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Treasury Secretary Paulson to Visit China

Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson, Jr. will travel to China at the end of this week to meet with government officials and discuss the U.S.-China Strategic Economic Dialogue (SED) launched by Presidents Bush and Hu last year.

"This trip is part of an ongoing process to strengthen our strategic economic relationship – to address long term issues such as working with China to rebalance its growth and increase the flexibility of its currency, and also to address short term issues as they arise," said Paulson.

Paulson will meet with Chinese leaders in Beijing to discuss a broad range of issues that are critical to the U.S.-China economic relationship. He's expected to raise with Chinese leadership issues of concern to the U.S. Congress in his meetings there, as well as follow up on action items that were identified at the last meeting of the SED in May.

Secretary Paulson will begin his trip to China with a visit to Qinghai Lake on July 30, the largest lake in the country and an example of the environmental challenges faced in China as well as the global nature of these problems. Collaborating on energy and the environment is one of the key focuses of the SED, which was established to provide a focused and effective framework for addressing issues of mutual concern.

"The only way to make progress on climate change is to engage all the large economies, developed and developing, to work toward embracing cleaner technology and reducing emissions. What's happening with the environment in the middle of China not only affects the local climate and economy but also the global climate and economy. And that's why it's so important that we work together on these big issues where we have a common interest in finding solutions that will benefit us all," said Secretary Paulson.

On July 31, Secretary Paulson will travel to Beijing where he will spend Tuesday and Wednesday meeting with Chinese officials including President Hu and Vice Premier Wu Yi.