Peking University, Beijing, June 2, 2009: Invited by Chinese Vice Premier Wang Qishan, the Treasury Secretary of the United States Timothy Geithner arrived in Beijing on May 31st on a three-day official visit to China. On the morning of June 1st, Mr. Geithner paid a visit to his alma mater Peking University and delivered a speech at the National School of Development.
Mr. Wu Zhipan, Vice Executive Director of the University Council of PKU, Mr. Li Yansong, President Assistant, Mr. Zhou Qiren and Mr. Wu Hemao, Dean and Vice Dean of the National School of Development, and Prof. Fu Min and Prof. Hao Wenyuan, the former Chinese teachers of Mr. Geithner attended his speech. In the speech entitled “The United States and China: Cooperating for Recovery and Growth,” Mr. Geithner highly valued the important role of the Sino-U.S cooperation in global economic recovery and growth.
Mr. Geithner stated in his speech, “the world economy is going through the most challenging economic and financial stress in generations, and in the face of this challenge, China and the United States are working together to help shape a strong global strategy to contain the crisis and to lay the foundation for recovery.” And the combined efforts of different countries had helped slow the deterioration pace in growth and repair the financial system. He said that the recovery would be slow and take a long time; the countries around the world needed an unprecedented growth mode.
He also stressed that the economic recovery should lay a foundation for the more balanced and sustained global economy in the future. He remarked that there were similar domestic challenges facing China and the United States: both countries were committed to reforming the financial system. The common challenge for the two countries was to recognize that a more balanced and sustained global recovery would require changes in the composition of growth in the two economies.
As to the international financial reform, Mr. Geithner highlighted that the G20 Leaders meeting had committed to a series of actions to help reform and strengthen the international financial architecture, including a stronger framework of standards for supervision and regulation of the financial system, and an ambitious program of reform of the IMF and other international financial institutions, and so on. And he also pointed out that the world must cooperate to assure that the global trade and investment environment remained open, and that opportunities continued to expand.
Mr. Geithner concluded his speech by saying that “global problems will not be solved without U.S.-China cooperation,” and wished China to succeed and prosper and looked forward to the Sino-US cooperation in a spirit of mutual respect.
After the speech, Vice Executive Director Wu Zhipan presented him a photo of Geithner and Prof. Fu Min taken in 1981 as a souvenir, which was a great pleasant surprise to the Treasury Secretary.
