US officials and experts positive on business cooperation opportunities with China

U.S. government officials and experts attending a US-China Governors Forum are suggesting the two sides need to explore more business opportunities in various sectors.

The Fifth U.S.- China Governors Forum wrapped up on Friday with a panel discussion on business opportunities in e-commerce and the infrastructure sector.

Alan Turley, Deputy Assistant Secretary for China with the U.S. Department of Commerce, says he's quite impressed with China's rapid development in e-commerce.

Alan Turley（1st, R）, Deputy Assistant Secretary for China, U.S. Department of Commerce, Craig Allen (3rd, L), President of the US-China Business Council participate in a panel discussion on e-commerce during the Fifth U.S.- China Governors Forum on May 24th, 2019 in Lexington, Kentucky. [Photo: China Plus/Qian Shanming]

"China's e-commerce market will give us total e-commerce retail sales of a little less than two trillion dollars in 2019. It is not only a market of tremendous volume, it's a market of tremendous innovation and tremendous dynamism. You think about the infrastructure you have to put in place in terms of delivery vehicles, warehouses, the IT infrastructure to handle that volume of sale all in one place, it's absolutely phenomenal and tremendous."

Turley says he believes there are opportunities for U.S. and China to work together on cross-border e-commerce.

"Cross-border e-commerce customers this year in China will be about 270 million people, and they will buy 144 billion dollars' worth of goods cross border this year. So there are tremendous opportunities for U.S. companies to access Chinese consumers through cross-border e-commerce."

Craig Allen, President of the US-China Business Council, notes China has become a leading force in e-commerce, suggesting a number of U.S. companies are now trying to follow Chinese companies' business models.

"One of the things that many Americans don't recognize is that China has become one of the most innovative countries on earth. For example, in the payments area, China has developed some very interesting and ground-breaking technology. In the e-commerce area and online/offline, China is probably leading the world. American companies are watching this carefully, looking at the business models. Chinese companies are moving into the U.S. and introducing some of those business models, and that's a very good thing. We are really marvel at the entrepreneurial dynamism coming out from places like Shenzhen, Hangzhou, Beijing or Shanghai. I think China is leading the world in many of those areas."

As part of the panel discussions, both Alan Turley and Craig Allen say they believe China and the U.S. can also work together to create new standards in the e-commerce sector, while also working together on IP protection and data sharing, as well as on broadening market access.

Dan Debono, Chief Infrastructure Funding Officer with the U.S. Department of Transportation, has told the Forum that the US side should be welcoming Chinese investment in the U.S. infrastructure sector.

"The roadmap to Chinese investment in U.S. infrastructure is likely to come in several ways, first, through continued capital investment in private equity vehicles, which invest in U.S. public-private partnerships. Second, through collaboration with local or state governments on discreet projects, or through investment and securities that fund infrastructure projects. The federal government cannot do it all, we don't have enough manpower, that is where we can see partners with expertise stepping up. Only by leveraging fully the federal funding available through high participation, with local state or private sources of capital, are we likely to make progress in filling the large infrastructure gap that we face today."

The three-day forum, co-hosted by the National Governors Association on the U.S. side and the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, has brought around 400 people from both sides, including government officials and industry leaders, to discuss local-level collaboration.