Former US Secretary of Commerce Carlos M Gutierrez attends the "Confronting Fragmentation in Global Trade" sub forum during the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2024 on March 26, 2024. Photo: Xiong Xinyi/GT

Former US secretary of commerce Carlos Gutierrez told the Global Times on Tuesday on the sidelines of the ongoing Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) Annual Conference 2024 that China has been a leader in many ways, including electric vehicles (EVs) and technologies. China today influences and has an impact on the world because it's so big and important.

"The world would be less safe for everyone and less prosperous if the US and China don't come together as allies, as friends. We need to put politics aside," Gutierrez said, responding to a question regarding China's efforts to promote high-quality opening-up and its contribution to promoting the world's economic recovery.

This year's BFA is a vital representation of China's continuous efforts in promoting high-quality opening-up, on top of the just-concluded China Development Forum (CDF). Nearly 2,000 representatives from more than 60 countries and regions are attending this year's BFA annual conference, Li Baodong, secretary-general of the BFA, said at a press conference on Tuesday.

The long-term prospects of economic and trade cooperation between China and the US are very good, Gutierrez told reporters on the sidelines of the forum, stressing the need for "the two most important countries" in the world to get along, respect each other's differences, and strive for harmony.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Tuesday said that the US should move in the same direction as China to provide more support and convenience for people-to-people exchanges, help the bilateral relationship to stabilize, improve and move forward by enhancing mutual understanding through face-to-face exchanges, when meeting with a delegation team of the National Committee on United States-China Relations. 

Despite Washington's call for decoupling, US business executives flocked to China during the CDF, including Apple CEO Tim Cook. More than 80 business executives listed by the CDF, over 30 - or about 40 percent - were from the US. In addition to Cook, many prominent US CEOs, including Cristiano Amon of Qualcomm, Darren Woods of ExxonMobil and Rajesh Subramaniam of FedEx, were in attendance.

The aims of the US to retain all beneficiary industries and products within itself are not in line with economies of scale or the operational rules of industries, Li Yong, a senior research fellow at the China Association of International Trade, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

Unlike the US or some Western countries that have closed their previously open doors based on a political perspective, China has been welcoming global enterprises to operate and expand in the Chinese market and share the dividends of the market's potential, Li noted.

In the nation's latest move to attract foreign investment, Zheng Shanjie, head of the National Development and Reform Commission, said on Sunday that China is accelerating the publication of the negative list for foreign investment for 2024.

The State Council, the cabinet, on March 19 issued a 24-point guideline to attract foreign investment. 

The 24-point guideline included targeted measures such as expanding market access in the high-tech and financial sectors, facilitating cross-border data flows, and promoting international business travel.