A GLOBAL TOAST: Visiting U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke attends the signing ceremony of a document on U.S.-Hong Kong cooperation in wine-related industries with Rita Lau Ng Wai-lan, Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in Hong Kong on May 17 (LIU XIAOWEI)

The U.S. side lobbied against Chinese government procurement rules that give preference to products with intellectual property developed in China and voiced its concerns about China's indigenous innovation policies. Beijing criticized U.S. controls on exports of hi-tech equipment to China and asked the United States to grant China market economy status.

After 100 hours of dialogue, one important consensus reached was that the S&ED is a valuable mechanism to promote the shared vision of presidents Hu Jintao and Obama for a positive, cooperative, and comprehensive bilateral relationship in the 21st century. Both sides recognize that there is a deficit of strategic trust that inhibits greater cooperation and they hold out hope that the S&ED will facilitate better understanding and enable a broadening of common interests that can underpin a genuine Sino-U.S. partnership in the future.

The author is a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C.

(The viewpoints in this article do not necessarily represent those of Beijing Review)