U.S.-China Track II Economic Dialogue

The U.S.-China Track II Economic Dialogue recently convened in person in Beijing October 9-13, 2023.  The American delegation was able to travel to China for this Dialogue for the first time since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020. During the Dialogue, leading American and Chinese economists, business leaders, and experts held off-the-record discussions on critical issues in the bilateral economic and trade relationship in the context of global economic developments. The Americans also met with leading Chinese government officials at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Commerce, the Development Research Center of the State Council, as well as with former government officials from People’s Bank of China and the National Development and Reform Commission. The team also visited the International Monetary Fund office in Beijing and China International Capital Corporation for informative and constructive meetings.

For over nine years, this bi-annual Track II dialogue has brought together leading American and Chinese economists, economic thinkers and business leaders for a day and a half of off-the-record discussions on important issues related to bilateral economic relations and the global economic system.

Participants in the dialogue engage in lively, sophisticated, and candid discussions that touch on a broad range of subjects, including the macroeconomic trends in China and the United States, each country’s reform initiatives, trade and investment relations, medium- to longer-term growth prospects, and collaborative pathways to build trust and improve U.S.-China economic relations.

At the conclusion of each session of this Track II dialogue, the expert participants pen a consensus agreement, laying out a set of principles and policies to which the two countries should adhere in managing their economic relations. The National Committee shares this document with relevant agencies and offices in both governments.

For every dialogue based in the United States, upon conclusion of the talks, the Chinese delegation travels to Washington, D.C., for a day of high-level meetings with American officials at the Department of State, the National Security Council, the Department of the Treasury, and the Department of Commerce, among others. These meetings are an opportunity for each side to discuss developments in economic conditions and policy directions in both countries, as well as government-to-government relations.

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