At a breakfast co-hosted by the US-China Business Council (USCBC) in Beijing, Vice President Joe Biden urged China to establish a level playing field for foreign and private businesses operating in China. He also thanked American and Chinese business leaders, saying “the shared prosperity that you help create is part of the glue that will hold together this relationship.” (AP Photo/Lintao Zhang, Pool)

The Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) and the US-China Business Council (USCBC) on October 31, 2013 co-hosted a CEO dialogue between senior Chinese and American business leaders in Beijing. BFA Secretary General Zhou Wenzhong and USCBC Chair Ellen Kullman co-chaired the dialogue. This is the fourth annual US-China CEO dialogue co-hosted by the Boao Forum and the US-China Business Council.

China’s newest economic reform incubator—the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone (FTZ)—has introduced conceptual changes to rules governing foreign businesses, but operating specifics remain scarce and the zone’s attractiveness to USCBC members remains subject to additional policy decisions yet to be finalized. The FTZ was launched with great fanfare on September 29, including a five minute story to open the national television news that evening. The inclusion of “China” in the name of the zone indicates that the FTZ is meant to be a pilot for rules that eventually will be rolled out nationally.