In order to help Chinese enterprises and investors gain a comprehensive understanding of the American investment environment, to promote and improve investing in America for Chinese enterprises, to enhance commercial cooperation and to develop win-win commercial opportunities for Chinese and Americans, the China Society (Washington DC), US-China Business Council, Center for China and Globalization (Beijing) and the “China Times”(Beijing) jointly organized the“2011 Washington China-US Investment Forum.” It was successfully held October 5th and 6th on Capitol Hill and in the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center. In a beautiful, golden October, more than 150 Chinese and American top level enterprises, politicians, think tank experts, media and people from all walks of life who deal with China-US investment gathered together on Capitol Hill in this Forum to jointly explore the opportunities and challenges for Chinese investing in the US. Specially invited representatives together with American senators and congressmen and senior officials of the Department of Commerce, Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center, World Bank and International Monetary Fund held in-depth discussions. US-China Working Group Co-chair Rick Larsen (Democrat, WA) participated in a breakfast discussion with a formal speech and Q&A session. Ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee and former Judiciary Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (Republican, Utah) met with some of the participants. US Department of Commerce Select USA Deputy Director Aaron Brickman, US Chamber of Commerce Representative and Advisor and former US Department of Commerce Deputy Assistant Secretary responsible for China affairs Henry Levine, Chinese Embassy Minister Counselor for Economic and Commercial Affairs Shaogang Zhang, and Center for China & Globalization Executive Director Huiyao Yang and others made important speeches.

Under the context of the major national “go out” strategy, China has been continuously seeking to enhance global cooperation and is currently accelerating the pace of its overseas investment. At the same time, along with the favorable performance of the Chinese economy this year and the growing strength of Chinese enterprises, the pace at which Chinese are participating in international investment and economic cooperation is steadily increasing. The US, as the largest economic entity in the world, has great attractiveness for Chinese capital. This June President Obama, through executive order and for the first time in American history, established Select USA within the Department of Commerce for the specific purpose of attracting foreign investment. Not long ago in Beijing, Vice President Biden emphasized American welcome for Chinese investment. And many American state and local governments are actively attracting Chinese investment. Clearly, Chinese investment in America is entering a new stage. The “2011 Washington China-US Investment Forum”had the primary goals of helping Chinese investors explore investment opportunities in the US and gain a comprehensive understanding of the US investment environment, successfully creating a good platform for dialogue and exchange among Chinese investors, American business people and American government officials in order to promote future win-win investments.

The two Forum Co-chairs were Matthew Salmon, the first Chinese speaking former US Congressman and Board Member of the China Society, and Dr. Huiyao Wang, Director General of the Center for China & Globalization, Vice Chairman of the China Western Returned Scholars Association and President of the WRSA Chamber of Commerce, and Vice Chairman, China International Economic Cooperation Society. Congressional representatives supporting the Forum were the Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee and former Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Senator Orrin Hatch (Republican, Utah); member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and member of the Bicameral Joint Economic Committee, Senator Mike Lee (Republican, Utah); as well as member of the House Judiciary Committee and the House Small Business Committee and Chairwoman of the Congressional Asia Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC) and first Chinese-American female member of Congress, Congresswoman Judy Chu (Democrat, California). Forum advisors were former Congressman and Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, Mike Oxley; former U.S. Ambassador to China, J. Stapleton Roy; John Hopkins University SAIS International Relations Institute Dean and Professor and former President of the National Committee on US-China Relations, David Lampton; and founding Dean of Beijing University School of Transnational Law and Former President, Cornell University, Jeffrey Lehman.

The Forum was opened with welcoming remarks by Executive Committee Co-Directors Yeqing Li, President, China Society; Erin Ennis, Vice-President, US-China Business Council; and Huiyao Wang, Director General, Center for China and Globalization. Through keynote speeches, panel discussions and coffee break interaction, Chinese and American representatives jointly explored many issues of special interest, such as “The Potential for Chinese Direct Investment in the US and the Obstacles,” “The US Welcomes Chinese Investment and Why?,” “Opportunities for Chinese Investment in the US,” “Lessons to be Learned from Chinese Mergers & Acquisitions vs. Greenfield Investments in America,” “How to Overcome Legal, Cultural and Labor Barriers,”etc. During the two days over 40 special guest speakers, all important figures in Chinese American affairs, in addition to those referred to above, participated in the Forum: Richard Huang, Secretary General, China General Chamber of Commerce – USA; Lixin Cheng, President and CEO, ZTE North America; Yijun Tan, President, China Telecon (Americas) Corporation; Haiqiang Liu, Vice President, China Unicom (Americas) Operations Ltd.; Guoxing Yang, Senior Vice President, Shanghai Electric Printing Packaging Machinery Group and Senior Vice President of Goss & International Corporation; Xin Liu, Director and CEO, HiPower New Energy Group and Director and CEO, HiPower Group USA; Jingzhou Tao, Managing Partner for Asia Practice Expansion, Dechert LLP Beijing; Fengbo Frank Zhang, Senior Vice President, Citigroup; Xiaoqing Zhang, Partner and Americas Tax Leader of China Overseas Investment, Ernst & Young LLP, Boston; Ming Ge, Chairman of the Board, Ernst & Young Hua Ming LLP; Jian Zhang, Consultant, World Bank and former Non-resident Senior Fellow, Brooking Institution; Manus Cooney, former Chief Counsel and Staff Director, US Senate Judiciary Committee; John Dickson, founding Chairman of the World Trade Center Association Trade and Commerce Promotion Peace and Stability Committee and Chairman of the China Society; Ira Kasoff, former Deputy Assistant Secretary US Department of Commerce (International Trade Administration); Timothy J. Keeler, Counsel, Mayer Brown LLP and former Chief of Staff, Office of the US Trade Representative; Elliot J. Feldman, Partner, Baker & Hostetler LLP and former professor, Harvard University; Joseph Konselmann, Investment Banking Leadership & Management, Goldman Sachs & Co. and Adjunct Fellow, Rand Corporation; David Metzner, CEO, American Continental Group and Former Vice Chair of Trustees, Woodrow Wilson International Institute for Scholars and founder of the Kissinger Research Institute; John Praveen, Managing Director and Chief Investment Strategist Prudential International Investments Advisers, LLC; John Rutledge, Chairman Rutledge Capital, principal architect of the Ronald Reagan economic plan, advisor to George W. Bush White House on tax policy; Ivan A. Schlager, Partner, Skadden Arps LLP and Director of CFIUS Practice and former Democratic Chief Counsel and Office Director, US Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation; Derek Scissors, Research Fellow, Heritage Foundation; Jennifer Thompson, Senior Vice-President, Edelman; Brian Wilson, Director, KPMG Advisory Services, former Advisory Client Service Partner, KPMB China; Daniel B. Wright, Founder, President and CEO, Greenpoint Group, former Managing Director for China and the US-China Strategic Economic Dialogue (SED) (advisor to former Secretary of the Treasury Paulson). Zhen Qi, Vice President for Government Relations of Huawei Technologies (USA) also participated in the Forum.

While this Forum was underway, the US Senate was debating the issue of the RMB exchange rate. This Forum showed American mainstream society the importance of Chinese investment in America, transferring the attention of the US Congress from the exchange rate issue to the more important issue of Chinese investment in the US. The Forum gave participating Chinese enterprises an opportunity for face-to-face exchange and interaction with members of Congress. Many of the experts at the Forum believed that, along with the continued growth of the Chinese economy and the progressive strengthening of Chinese enterprises, the pace of Chinese enterprises participating in international investment will steadily increase. As the greatest economic entity in the world, America has an enormous attraction for Chinese capital.

House of Representatives US-China Working Group Co-chair, Representative Rick Larsen (Democrat, WA), pointed out in his breakfast meeting speech that Chinese investment holds a 0.1% share of all foreign investment in the US. Thus, the space for further development is enormous: from 2009 to 2010 that investment increased 130% on an annual basis. Chinese investment in the US already extends across 16 industries, ten in manufacturing and six in services; 75% of the investments in the US are made by privately owned or non-state-controlled listed enterprises. Representative Larsen also pointed out that although the media has reported a number of controversial investment projects, the number which have actually been investigated is very few, and the number blocked has been negligible. He recommended that Chinese enterprises use smart investment methods and raised the point that congressmen and local elected officials are most concerned about what kind of and how many employment opportunities investments create. He raised the example from two years ago of a Chinese company acquiring a Washington State software firm employing 50 workers. The Chinese firm did not just lay people off or run off with the Intellectual Property. Instead, it continued to develop the acquisition as its North American company, and it now has 250 employees. This kind of company is greatly welcomed by Americans. He also said that the US and Chinese governments are agreeing to a bilateral investment treaty which will promote, safeguard and manage investment between the two countries.

Minister-Counselor for Economic and Commercial Affairs from the Chinese Embassy Shaogang Zhang said, in recent years the increasing rate of Chinese investment in the US underscores that the investment potential is enormous. Based on Chinese Ministry of Commerce statistics, in 2010, Chinese direct investment in the US reached $1.3 billion, an increase of 44%. At the same time he pointed out that Chinese investment in the US still faces many challenges; the American government program to attract foreign investment and the transparency of American regulation of foreign investment must be strengthened; it is easy for American politicians to politicize the issue of Chinese investment in the US; in addition, there are still barriers to Chinese investment in the US, such as difficulty in getting visas, etc. These factors all affect Chinese investment in the US.

Aaron S. Brickman, Deputy Executive Director of the US Department of Commerce’s newly established Select USA, specifically to attract foreign investment, said the Obama Administration’s welcome of foreign investment is very clear, it is very optimistic about growth prospects for Chinese investment in the US, and it wishes to strengthen cooperation with China. He praised this Forum as the best and the most successful of all the forums related to investing in the US that he has participated in. Many of the Americans at the Forum emphasized their welcome of Chinese investment and their desire to strengthen cooperation with China and moreover, provide greater convenience to Chinese in the area of government services to support investment.

Just as the Co-chair of this Forum, Dr. Huiyao Wang, Director General of the Center for China and Globalization, expressed in an interview, “This Washington China-US Investment Forum has provided representatives from China and America with a valuable opportunity to jointly discuss and seek investment opportunities in the US and in addition practically help American representatives better understand the extent of Chinese interest.”

Co-Sponsoring organizations for the Forum were the US Chamber of Commerce, the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center, the China Western Returned Scholars Association Chamber of Commerce, the China General Chamber of Commerce – USA, Beijing University Transnational Law School, the American Continental Group (ACG), the World Trade & Development Group, the National Council of Chinese Americans, and the Union of Chinese American Professional Organizations. The Forum also received great help from Ernst & Young and HiPower Energy as corporate sponsors .

Although the curtain has closed on this Forum, the interactive communication platform established by the Forum framework will begin to witness more and more trade links between the two countries as well as cooperation on future investment projects between representatives of the two countries. Forum organizers will learn from the experiences of the 2011 Forum, will gather recommendations from all parties, and will come together to make good and ample preparations for the next Forum. For details on the 2011 Forum, please log into www.ChinaUSInvest.org.

2011华盛顿中美投资论坛成功举行

为帮助中国企业和投资者全面了解美国的投资环境，促进中国企业在美国投资环境的改善，增进中美之间经贸合作，实现中美经济双赢发展，由(美国)中国协会、美中贸易全国委员会、中国与全球化研究中心、华夏时报社联合共同主办的“2011华盛顿中美投资论坛”于2011年10月5日-6日在美国国会山与罗纳德.里根大厦及国际贸易中心成功举行。在美丽的金秋十月，150多位中美两国的高层企业家、政要、智库专家、媒体及关系中美投资的各界人士相聚在美国首都华盛顿国会山，参与了本次论坛共同探讨了中国在美投资的机遇与挑战。特邀代表还与美国参众两院议员、商务部、里根大厦及国际贸易中心和世界银行国际货币基金组织资深官员深入座谈。美国众议员美中工作小组共同主席里克.拉尔森参与早餐对话并正式演讲和答问。美国参议院金融委员会资深成员前参议院司法委员会前主席奥林.哈奇（Orrin Hatch犹他州共和党）会见了部分参会代表。美国商务部选择美国局副局长艾伦.布里克曼(Aaron Brickman)，美国总商会代表和顾问前商务部负责中国事务的副助理部长亨利.列文(Henry Levine)，以及中国驻美大使馆经济与商务公使衔参赞张少刚，中国与全球化中心主任王辉耀等做了重要演讲。

在国家"走出去"战略的大背景下，中国一直以来不断寻求增进全球合作并且正在加快其海外投资的步伐。同时，随着中国经济近年来的良好表现，中国企业实力逐步增强，中国企业参与国际投资合作的步伐在逐步加快。美国作为全球最大的经济体，对中国资本有着极大的吸引力。奥巴马总统刚在今年六月在美国历史上第一次通过总统令在商务部内成立了专门吸引外国投资的选择美国（Select USA）局，美国副总统拜登不久前在北京明确强调欢迎中国投资，美国很多州政府和地方政府也在积极吸引中国投资，中国在美投资的合作正在进入一个新的阶段。"2011华盛顿中美投资论坛"本着为中国投资者探索在美投资机会并且帮助投资者全面了解美国投资环境的主要目标，成功地为中国投资者、美国商业人士、以及美国政府官员间搭建起了良好的对话和交流的平台，以此来促进未来双赢的投资行为。

论坛的两位共同主席是美国第一位讲普通话的前众议员、中国协会理事马修•萨蒙(Matthew Salmon)和中国与全球化研究中心主任、欧美同学会副会长兼商会会长、中国国际经济合作学会副会长王辉耀博士。论坛的国会支持议员为美国参议院金融委员会资深成员前参议院司法委员会前主席奥林.哈奇（Orrin Hatch犹他州共和党），参议院外交关系委员会成员兼两院联合经济委员会成员迈克.李(Mike Lee犹他州共和党) 参议员 ，以及众议院内务司法委员会委员、小企业委员会委员、国会亚太裔党团（CAPAC）主席第一位华裔女议员赵美心 (Judy Chu加州民主党)。论坛的顾问有美国众议院前金融委员会主席迈克•奥克斯利(Mike Oxley) 、前美国驻华大使芮效俭(J. Stapleton Roy) 、约翰霍普金斯大学 SAIS国际关系学院院长和美中国关系全国委员会前会长大卫•兰普顿 (David Lampton) 、北京大学国际法学院创院院长美国康奈尔大学前任校长杰弗里.雷曼(Jeffrey Lehman)。

论坛由大会执行委员会共同执行主任美国中国协会会长李叶青，美中贸易全国委员会副会长欧玉琳，中国与全球化研究中心主任王辉耀致欢迎词开幕。中美两国代表以主题演讲、小组座谈和茶歇互动等形式共同探讨了诸多热点问题，如“中国在美国直接投资的潜力与挑战” “美国欢迎中国投资以及为什么？” “美国直接投资的机会” “中国企业美国并购与绿地投资的经验教训” “如何克服法律，文化和劳动壁垒”等等。两天参会的演讲嘉宾有四十多人，都是中美两国重量级的人士，除了以上提及的嘉宾外，还有美国中国总商会秘书长黄学琪，中兴通讯北美洲总裁兼首席执行官程立新，中国电信（美洲）公司总裁谭亦军,中国联通（美洲）公司财务人事与行政副总裁刘海强，上海电气印包集团高级副总裁兼高斯国际公司高级副总裁杨国兴，海霸能源集团国际执行总裁兼海霸能源美国公司董事执行总裁刘心，美国德杰律师事务所北京代表处亚洲业务拓展执行合伙人陶景洲，美国花旗银行信贷高级副总裁张风波，安永会计师事务所合伙人张晓青，安永华明会计师事务所董事长葛明，世界银行顾问前布鲁金斯学会客座资深研究员经济学家张坚，美国参议院司法委员会前首席律师及办公室主任马努斯.库尼，世界贸易和发展集团主席、世界贸易中心协会商贸促进和平与稳定委员会创会主席兼中国协会理事会主席约翰.迪克森，美国商务部前副助理部长（负责国际贸易局）伊拉.卡索夫，前美国贸易代表办公室首席幕僚长廷莫西.克勒，贝克尔霍斯泰特勒律师事务所合伙人哈佛大学前教授埃利奥特.费尔德曼，高盛公司投资与管理主管兼兰德公司客座研究员约瑟夫.康左曼，美国大陆集团总裁、伍德罗.威尔逊中心前副理事长基辛格研究所创始人大卫.梅策纳，保德信国际投资顾问有限公司执行董事兼首席策略分析师约翰•普利文，拉特利奇资本董事长里根总统经济政策总设计师之一小布什总统税收政策顾问约翰.拉特利奇，斯喀登.阿普斯律师事务所合伙人兼外国投资审查业务主管美国参议院商务科技与交通委员会民主党首席律师兼办公室主任伊凡.施拉格，传统基金会研究员德里克.希泽斯，爱德曼公司高级副总裁珍妮.汤普森，毕马威会计师事务所咨询服务主任毕马威中国前客户服务咨询合伙伴布赖恩.威尔逊， GreenPoint集团创始人总裁兼首席执行官前美国财政部中国事务主管和中美战略经济对话主管（美国前财政部长保尔森顾问）丹尼尔B.赖特。华为公司美国负责政府关系的副总裁Zhen Qi也出席了论坛。

本次论坛进行时，美国参议院正在讨论人民币汇率问题，而本次活动正给美国主流社会展示中国投资对美国重要性，将国会的注意力由汇率问题转为更重要的中美投资，并为到场的中国企业家提供了与国会议员面对面的交流和相互影响的机会。不少与会专家认为，随着中国经济的持续增长，中国企业实力逐步增强，中国企业参与国际投资合作的步伐逐步加快。美国作为全球最大的经济体，对中国资本有着极大吸引力。

中国驻美使馆经济与商务公使衔参赞张少刚在会上说，近年来中国在美投资增长迅速，在美投资潜力巨大。据中国商务部统计，2010年，中国在美直接投资达到13亿美元，同比增幅达44%。他同时指出，目前中国在美投资仍面临多项挑战，美国政府在吸引外国投资的公共服务和美国监管外国投资的透明度需要加强；美国政界人士容易把中国在美投资问题政治化；此外，中国企业赴美投资还存在办理签证难等障碍，这些都影响了中国在美国的投资。

美国商务部新成立的专门吸引外国投资的“选择美国”副主任艾伦•布里克曼说，奥巴马政府欢迎外国投资的政策是明确的，美国政府十分看好中国在美投资的增长前景，愿意与中国加强合作。他赞扬本次论坛是其参与过的所有投资美国类似论坛中最好最成功的活动。许多与会的美方人士表示，美国十分欢迎中国企业来美投资，愿意与中国加强合作，并且在公共服务等方面给中国企业提供更大便利。

正如本次大会共同主席，中国与全球化研究中心主任王辉耀博士在采访中表示：“本次华盛顿中美投资论为中美两方代表提供了共同讨论和寻求在美投资机遇的宝贵机会并且切实地帮助了美国代表更好了解中方的兴趣所在。”

论坛的协办单位有 美国总商会， 罗纳德.里根大厦和国际贸易中心， 欧美同学会商会， 美国中国总商会， 北京大学国际法学院， 美国大陆集团ACG， 世界贸易与发展集团， 美国华人全国委员会， 美国华人专业团体联合会。论坛也得到安永会计师事务所(Ernst & Young)和海霸能源集团(HiPower Energy)的大力赞助。

本届投资论坛虽然落下了帷幕，但是论坛架构起的沟通互动的平台上正将开始见证更多中美两国贸易间的联结以及两国代表在未来投资项目中的合作。论坛主办方将汲取今年论坛的各种经验，采纳各方建议，为下一年度的投资论坛的成功召开做好充分准备。