US firms demand reform from China

WASHINGTON - Agence France-Presse

Chinese President Xi Jinping had indicated plans to further open up the economy, representatives of the US firms in China said.

US companies in China are taking a cautious view of the new Chinese leadership, hoping a key November Communist Party meeting will clear up the outlook for economic reform. Representatives of the American Chamber of Commerce in China (AmCham Shanghai), visiting Washington last week, said that Chinese President Xi Jinping had indicated plans to further open up the economy.

But it was unclear whether he had all the control levers at his command less than a year after taking power, they said.

Xi, who became head of the Communist Party last November, has shown he will take “a more pro-market approach than his predecessor (Hu Jintao),” Kenneth Jarrett, president of AmCham Shanghai, told reporters. But businesses were waiting to see what comes out of a key meeting of the Chinese Communist Party leadership in November.

The meeting -- known as the third plenum -- traditionally is used to unveil political and economic reforms.
The plenum could be an “opening salvo” on Chinese reforms, Jarrett said.

The AmCham Shanghai delegation was in the US capital for their annual “doorknock” talks with top Obama administration officials, lawmakers, and members of leading think tanks, pushing for a stronger US-China relationship.