This Tuesday U.S. Ambassador Gary Locke delivered a speech to the American Chamber of Commerce in China and the U.S.-China Business Council. From the United States Embassy, Beijing website:

Locke Announces New Embassy Led Trade and Investment Initiative

(BEIJING, CHINA) – Speaking before guests of the U.S.-China business community, U.S. Ambassador Gary Locke laid out his vision for the future of the U.S.-China economic and trade relationship. He emphasized that the United States and China must work together to help the global economy return to full strength.

Locke highlighted President Obama’s priority of creating jobs in the U.S. and outlined how he would support that effort through: helping to double U.S. exports by 2015, increasing investment by Chinese companies in the U.S., and ensuring that U.S. companies can compete on a level playing field in China.

Locke stressed the interdependence of the two economies: “given our economic interdependence, more jobs in America and a stronger American economy is also in the economic interest of the Chinese people.”

Locke also announced a new trade and investment initiative with the goal of increasing bilateral trade and investment to create economic opportunities for workers and firms in both countries. Locke will lead five sector-specific trade missions to China’s emerging cities in the next year. While on those missions, he will meet with Chinese companies and entrepreneurs to help them better understand the benefits and ease of investing in the U.S. by establishing factories, facilities, operations and offices.

For the benefit of China and the global economy, Ambassador Locke encouraged China to accelerate reforms in several key areas including: foreign direct investment policies; the value of the renminbi, and, the enforcement of intellectual property rights protection.

The entirety of the speech can be accessed here.

Photo courtesy of the United States Department of Commerce.