Event Wrap Up

Washington

March

Roundtable Discussion on the PRC Labor Contract Law

Featured Lesli Ligorner, Shanghai based partner at Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker LLP.

Reception and Luncheon
Honoring He Yafei, PRC Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs

Featured He and senior PRC Embassy and Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials. He delivered remarks on US-China relations, including the Senior Dialogue (also known as the "Strategic Dialogue"), plans for the upcoming Strategic Economic Dialogue (SED), and PRC Vice Premier Wu Yi's visit to Washington, DC, in May.

Discussion on the PRC Antimonopoly Law

Featured Wu Zhenguo, director of the PRC Ministry of Commerce's (MOFCOM) Antimonopoly Office, and Xie Lin, deputy section chief of MOFCOM's Antimonopoly Office. Special thanks to Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP for hosting this event.

Roundtable Luncheon with US Department of the Treasury's Alan F. Holmer

Featured Holmer, Treasury's newly appointed special envoy for China and the SED.

Discussion on Arbitration in China

Featured China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (CIETAC) Secretary General Yu Jianlong, who discussed CIETAC's work, recent trends in arbitration in China, and the number and type of cases CIETAC has arbitrated in recent years.

Discussion with Assistant US Trade Representative (USTR) for China Affairs Timothy Stratford

Stratford discussed his recent China trip, which included meetings with PRC counterparts on the SED, the recently filed World Trade Organization (WTO) case on subsidies, and intellectual property rights enforcement.

April

Issues Luncheon: China Trade Enforcement

Featured Demetrios Marantis, chief trade counsel of the US Senate Finance Committee majority staff; Timothy Reif, chief trade counsel of the House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee majority staff; and James Mendenhall, former USTR general counsel, now partner at Sidley Austin LLP.

Beijing

March

Luncheon with Shang Ming, Director General of MOFCOM's Department of Treaty and Law

Shang reviewed regulations and laws that MOFCOM issued in 2006, China's WTO commitments, and new laws that may be issued in 2007.

Breakfast meeting with Alan F. Holmer

Featured Special Envoy for China and the SED Holmer. Cosponsored by the US-China Business Council (USCBC) and the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) China.

A Discussion with the US Department of Commerce's (DOC) Stephen Claeys

Claeys, deputy assistant secretary for Antidumping and Countervailing Duty (CVD) Operations, DOC, reviewed trade remedy concerns between the United States and China, market economy status for China, the CVD case against China, and other areas of concern for US businesses in China. Cosponsored by USCBC and AmCham China.

Beijing Breakfast with Undersecretary of Commerce for International Trade Franklin L. Lavin

Lavin provided an update on the SED and bilateral investment initiatives. Cosponsored by USCBC and AmCham China.

April

Luncheon with US Department of Transportation (DOT) Secretary Mary Peters

Featured Peters; cosponsored by USCBC and AmCham China.

Shanghai

March

Luncheon on Branding and Advertising: Views from the Other Side

Featured Joseph Wang, vice chair of Ogilvy & Mather China, and Paul French, general manager of Access Asia.

April

Luncheon with US DOT Secretary Mary Peters

Featured Peters; cosponsored by USCBC and AmCham Shanghai.

Roundtable on Green Supply Chains

Featured US Environmental Protection Agency Assistant Administrator for Enforcement and Compliance Assurance Granta Nakayama; cosponsored by USCBC and AmCham Shanghai.

Luncheon with Assistant USTR for China Affairs Timothy Stratford

Featured Stratford; cosponsored by USCBC and AmCham Shanghai.

Luncheon on Online Sales and Distribution in China

Featured Bill Noonan, vice president, Asia Pacific Development, W. W. Grainger, Inc., and Ben Martin, marketing director, Asia Pacific and Japan Services, Dell Inc.

Zhengzhou, Henan

April

Expo Central China

USCBC Vice President for China Operations Robert Poole led a delegation of USCBC member company representatives to MOFCOM's "Expo Central China," an exposition that seeks to promote greater awareness of and investment in central China. Delegation members met with senior-level MOFCOM officials and attended various forums, seminars, and briefings.