National Committee on U.S.-China Relations

The National Committee on U.S.-China Relations (NCUSCR) hosted a conversation with four former White House officials who have served under Republican and Democratic administrations as the senior director for Asian Affairs on the National Security Council (NSC) – Kenneth Lieberthal, Evan Medeiros, Douglas Paal, and Daniel Russel – and Susan Thornton, the former acting assistant secretary of state f...

As China’s economy continues to develop, and individuals and private companies amass greater wealth, another area of growth is the philanthropic sector. Shen Danxi, a 2018 Richard Rockefeller Fellow and deputy secretary general of the Sany Foundation, talks about how her foundation represents a new generation of Chinese philanthropy, and what she sees as the key differences between American and Ch...

As the twentieth century drew to a close, Hong Kong, recently transformed into a Special Administrative Region of the PRC, seemed a city totally unlike any of its neighbors. Many observers were surprised by how light a touch Beijing seemed to be exerting in the wake of the 1997 handover, and the striking contrast between what could be said, done, and published in Hong Kong, compared to mainland me...

Recent policy changes and a deteriorating bilateral relationship have greatly impacted cross-border investment flows between the United States and China. Chinese FDI in the United States has dropped to the lowest level seen in seven years, and was even negative if divestitures are taken into account. American FDI in China has held up better, but recent Chinese liberalization has not yet sparked a...

As tensions continue to escalate between the United States and China, technology has become a focal point of growing bilateral competition. One of China’s top high-tech companies, Huawei, is the subject of scrutiny from competitors as well as governments across the globe, as it faces accusations of violating sanctions, stealing trade secrets, and compromising user privacy. Nevertheless, Huawei is...

In this interview with NCUSCR President Stephen Orlins, founder and CEO of 52 Capital Partners David P. Willard discusses how his work in mergers and acquisitions is affected by macroeconomic policies in the United States and China and gives his perspective on where the economic relationship between the two countries is heading. Mr. Willard spoke at a National Committee event on April 25, 2019. Le...

Amid the ongoing trade tensions between the United States and China, David P. Willard, founder and CEO of 52 Capital Partners, explores the primary issues now affecting the U.S.-China economic relationship, including national security risks, heightened regulatory scrutiny, and legal barriers for cross-border mergers and acquisitions. David P. Willard is the founder, chief executive officer, and ma...

In this episode of the National Committee's PROFILES podcast series, Vice President Jan Berris interviews Richard Vuylsteke, president of the East-West Center. He talks about how he first became interested in Asia, his military service in the Pacific, and his time serving as president of the American Chamber of Commerce in both Hong Kong and Taiwan.

As the Chinese state—under the leadership of President Xi Jinping—continues to exert more control over China’s economy through its policies, prospects for future reforms seem uncertain. Dr. Nicholas R. Lardy of the Peterson Institute explains why economic reform has been so important to Chinese society over the past 40 years and shares his perspective on whether the country’s reform period has ind...

Recent challenges in the U.S.-China economic relationship have been well-documented in the United States and debated from every point of view. But how is the trade war viewed by the U.S. business community in China? As an American working in Beijing, Ben Harburg, managing partner of MSA Capital, gives his interpretation of the short- and long-term effects of this tension in the relationship. Ben H...

In his new book, The State Strikes Back: The End of Economic Reform in China?, NCUSCR Vice Chair Nicholas R. Lardy of the Peterson Institute for International Economics draws upon new data to trace how Chinese President Xi Jinping's support of state-owned enterprises has begun to diminish the role of the market and private firms in China's economy. Dr. Lardy argues that China has the potential to...

The Paris Climate Agreement marked a breakthrough in international cooperation on climate change, with 196 states and the European Union negotiating a pact in December 2015 to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. The United States and China, the top two emitters of greenhouse gases on the planet, announced their intentions to join the agreement in April 2016. Since then, President Donald Trump has v...

The influence of artificial intelligence on our world is only growing, as smart home products, algorithm-based streaming platforms, and even autonomous vehicles become a part of our daily lives. Since the 1990s, American tech companies in Silicon Valley have dominated the development and application of AI-driven technologies. However, AI pioneer Dr. Kai-Fu Lee explains that China has rapidly caugh...

China's high-tech industries have grown rapidly in recent years, as companies like Tencent and Alibaba achieve global name recognition and the quality of the country's digital infrastructure improves. To accelerate the development of its industrial capacity, Beijing has launched ‘Made in China 2025,’ a strategic blueprint that seeks to make China a global leader in high-tech manufacturing industri...

As the attendance of Chinese students at U.S. institutions of higher education comes under greater scrutiny, Peggy Blumenthal of the Institute for International Education explains the history of Chinese students in the United States, their impact on American institutions, why they come, and how new visa policies may affect their enrollment. Peggy Blumenthal is senior counselor to the president at...

In this interview with NCUSCR President Stephen Orlins, Dr. Weijian Shan discusses his new autobiography, Out of the Gobi, about his experience during the Cultural Revolution as a manual laborer in the Gobi Desert. He explains what prompted him to write the book and why learning about the Cultural Revolution is essential to understanding China. Dr. Shan gave a talk to the National Committee about...

As the chaos of the Cultural Revolution engulfed China, Weijian Shan, age 15, endured years of manual labor in the remote Gobi Desert. Passionate about his education, Shan lost a decade of schooling. Yet, as he describes in his remarkable new autobiography, Out of the Gobi: My Story of China and America, he never gave up on studying. Having only completed elementary school, Dr. Shan attended prest...

The United States and China appear to be moving in opposite directions in their approaches to climate change with the United States withdrawing from the Paris Agreement while China vows to make itself a global leader in new, green technology. In a new book, Titans of the Climate: Explaining Policy Process in the United States and China, climate policy experts Kelly Sims Gallagher and Xiaowei Xuan...

An expert panel discusses the shift in Chinese economic policy toward economic stabilization, as the Central Economic Work Conference pledged to develop a stronger home market to offset external uncertainties. Will China keep following the path of “reform and opening”? How will the Chinese leadership stabilize economic, finance, trade, investment, employment, and market expectations? Recorded at t...

Former Senior Vice President and Chief Economist at the World Bank Justin Yifu Lin presents his view of the Chinese economy's future at the annual Forecast of China’s Economy for 2019, hosted by the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations and Peking University’s China Center for Economic Research, at the Citigroup Center on January 10, 2019. Justin Yifu Lin, Ph. D. in economics from the Univers...

An expert panel discusses the impact of the U.S.-China trade war on China’s economy and financial markets, the effect of China’s structural economic reform on the global economy, and the recent slowdown and challenges in China’s economy and relevant economic policies. Recorded at the annual Forecast of China’s Economy for 2019, hosted by the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations and Peking Un...

Former Chairman of China Merchants Group and China Merchants Bank Qin Xiao presents his research on the new paradigm that the U.S.-China trade war represents and possible solutions to the conflict at the annual Forecast of China’s Economy for 2019, hosted by the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations and Peking University’s China Center for Economic Research, at the Citigroup Center on January...

Following decades of enmity, on December 15, 1978, the United States and China announced the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries as of January 1, 1979. Diplomatic rapprochement offered hope that the countries would be able to look beyond their differences to cooperate on the global stage. On December 18, the National Committee convened a panel representing the diverse f...

Last Saturday, voters in Taiwan went to the polls in an election widely seen as a referendum on President Tsai Ing-wen. Her party, the Democratic Progressive Party, suffered numerous electoral defeats in crucial local races. The opposition party, the Kuomintang, capitalized on voter frustration with a stagnant economy, rocky relations with the Mainland, and a conservative base that was energized b...

Barbara Finamore, author of the new book Will China Save the Planet?, talks to Jan Berris, National Committee Vice President, about China's path to becoming a responsible stakeholder on environmental issues. Barbara Finamore is a senior attorney and Asia director at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). Ms. Finamore founded NRDC’s China Program, which promotes innovative policy development...