core sector communique

State's Burns Visits Beijing for Discussions on Crucial Issues

Washington - Deputy Secretary of State William Burns visited Beijing October 27-29 to review mutual priorities with top Chinese officials for upcoming international meetings and to discuss major bilateral, regional and global issues.

A statement from Richard Buangan, press spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, said the discussions were "constructive."

The talks included planning for three major international meetings. First up is the Group of 20 (G20) Summit of leaders of the world's major advanced and emerging economies. This meeting will be held in Cannes, France, November 3-4. Next is the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders Meeting, which President Obama will host in Honolulu on November 12-13. Leaders of APEC's 21 member economies are expected to attend. This event will be followed by the East Asia Summit, hosted by Indonesia, November 19 in Bali. The United States and Russia formally will join the East Asia Summit group as members at the Bali meeting.

In the meetings with Chinese officials, Burns "underscored the importance of efforts by both the United States and China to promote global economic recovery and balanced growth, and to enhance security, stability and growth in Asia," according to the statement on the U.S. Embassy-Beijing website.

Prior to visiting Beijing, Burns discussed U.S.-China relations October 24 in a major speech at Texas A&M University, where he said the United States' increased engagement in these multilateral forums provides "additional opportunities for the United States and China to work together."

Burns and Chinese officials also exchanged views on common regional and international issues the two nations face, including Afghanistan, North Korea, Iran and recent events in the Middle East, according to the embassy.

The two sides also discussed the South China Sea and human rights, the embassy said. Burns and his Chinese counterparts "agreed on the importance to our two countries of maintaining positive bilateral relations, while also addressing ways in which the United States and China could build strategic trust and avoid misunderstandings and misperceptions," the embassy statement said.

In his speech at Texas A&M, Burns said of the U.S.-China relationship, "No single relationship is likely to matter more to either of us in the decades ahead, or to the future of international order."

"A healthy U.S.-China relationship is central to our vision for the future of the Pacific region and the global economy. Trust and understanding between our nations will be essential to America's security and prosperity and to China's as it seeks to play a greater role in world affairs," Burns said.

In his visit to Beijing, Burns was accompanied by National Security Council Senior Director for Asian Affairs Daniel Russel and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian Affairs Kin Moy. He met with State Councilor Dai Bingguo, Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi, Director of the International Department of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party Minister Wang Jiarui, Executive Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Zhijun, Vice Foreign Minister Cui Tiankai, and PLA Deputy Chief of the General Staff General Ma Xiaotian.

(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State.)