U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke will deliver the opening remarks at a day-long policy conference that discusses the commercial relationship between the United States and China.  The forum features senior Commerce Department officials and leading experts on China’s economy, political landscape, trade networks, science and innovation policy, and environmental technologies.  In anticipation of the next U.S.-China Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade (JCCT) later in December, this conference will focus on the U.S. government’s efforts to improve market access for U.S. exports in the Chinese economy and increase opportunities for mutually beneficial trade.  This forum is jointly hosted by the U.S. Department of Commerce, the Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies at the University of Washington, the Henry M. Jackson Foundation, and Georgetown University.

Secretary Locke is scheduled to start his remarks at 8:45 a.m. Webcast provided by Georgetown University.

The webcast has ended. Please check back later for archived video of Secretary Locke's speech.

(UPDATED after the jump)

In his speech about the U.S.-China commercial relationship, Secretary Locke noted:

The JCCT has played an important role in this strengthening of relations.  In about two weeks, Ambassador Kirk and I will welcome Vice Premier Wang Qishan and his delegation of nearly 100 Chinese ministry officials to Washington for the 21st plenary session of the JCCT.

This is our most important bilateral dialogue for resolving trade and investment issues between our two countries.  And I’m eager to work with China on continuing to further open its economy to the world.

...

And the U.S. government is absolutely committed to helping American businesses gain broader access into China.

There are two components to this: One is helping U.S. firms further develop their capacity to export. That is a primary goal of President Obama's National Export Initiative, which aims to double American exports by 2015. Under this initiative, we’ll be targeting U.S. companies and encouraging new-to-export and new-to-market firms to export to markets like China.

The second component to increasing exports to China is addressing the market access barriers that prevent our world-class products and services from serving that surging demand in the world’s second-largest economy.

Increased Chinese consumption of foreign products and services isn't just a quality-of-life issue – it is also of paramount importance to the global economy.

Complete remarks.