China, U.S. agree to accelerate BIT talks

BEIJING -- Senior Chinese and US officials have agreed to speed up negotiations on a bilateral investment treaty (BIT) during the Eighth Round of China-US Strategic and Economic Dialogues (S&ED).

"The two countries will exchange new 'negative list' offers in mid-June," Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang told a news briefing here on Tuesday.

"We will try to reach a mutually beneficial and high-level agreement at an early date," he said.

A negative list outlines sectors closed to foreign investment. The last time the two sides exchanged such lists was in early September last year.

China and the United States started to negotiate a BIT in 2008 and 24 rounds of talks were held ahead of the eighth S&ED as both countries sought to increase mutual investment.