The China Business Forum, Inc. (the Forum) was established to promote broad-based policy discussion and greater understanding in both China and the United States of the economic systems and business methods of each country, and of the role of commerce in the overall relationship between the United States and China. The Forum was incorporated in Delaware in December 1987. It received federal income tax exemption as a 501(c)(3) educational nonprofit organization in November 1988, and income and sales tax exemption from the District of Columbia in July 1989.
The Forum facilitates the Council's outreach to the Greater China business community. The Forum may accept tax-deductible contributions to help fund its activities, enabling it to reach a wider audience and open events to the public at a lower cost than could be done if financed solely by membership dues or attendance fees. Upon its creation the Forum assumed the Council's existing general public service activities, consisting principally of publishing he China Business Review and administering a training program in the United States for Chinese trade officials. The Forum has also published two special studies: A Guide to China's Trade and Investment Organizations (1989) and Special Report on US Investment in China (1990).
The Forum has occasionally organized meetings aimed at helping the government and private sector develop realistic policies and business strategies for China. In 1990, the Forum co-hosted its first major conference, "Reassessing US-China Ties: Economic Policy and the Role of Business," at the US Department of State with the Hotung Institute for International Studies. This meeting brought together more than 300 people including US company representatives, members of the Bush administration, members of Congress, and outside experts to debate American economic policy towards China. In 1992, we co-hosted with the American Enterprise Institute another successful conference, "American Economic Relations with Greater China: Challenges for the 1990s." We published proceedings from both these meetings. Also in 1992, the Forum was a cooperating organization for a conference on "The New Frontier: Economic Integration of Northeast Asia; Opportunities for US Business" (with the US Chamber of Commerce and the Korea Economic Institute).
The highlight of the China Business Forum's 1993 programs was a conference in Washington, DC, commemorating the 20th anniversary of the US-China Business Council, looking ahead at "The Third Decade of US-China Relations: Challenges and Opportunities." We also co-sponsored two programs in Asia in 1993: "Strategies to Succeed in the PRC's Manufacturing and Consumer Markets" (in Hong Kong with the HK Polytechnic Management Graduates Association) and "A Look Inside Policymaking in China" (in Shanghai with the Brookings Institution and the Shanghai Institute for International Studies).
In the spring of 1995 the China Business Forum co-sponsored an executive trip to China, "Strategies for Business Success in China," with The Amos Tuck School of Business Administration at Dartmouth College and the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. The program was designed for executives and senior managers who had responsibility for developing new market opportunities in the emerging Chinese economy. After two days of briefings at Dartmouth, the group traveled to Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Hong Kong for visits to joint ventures and off-the-record meetings and roundtable discussions with key Chinese officials and both Chinese and foreign executives.
Since 1998, the Forum has been the home of the US-China Legal Cooperation Fund, a voluntary program supported by member companies in the US-China Business Council. The Fund provides grants of financial assistance to worthy projects, designed jointly by American and Chinese partners, in a wide variety of law-related fields. The program has received considerable recognition for its contributions to a stronger and more predictable legal environment in China.
The US-China Legal Cooperation Fund has received support from the following companies:
ABB Inc.; AMP Incorporated; American International Group, Inc.; Applied Materials, Inc.; ARCO; Baker & Daniels; Cargill, Incorporated; Caterpillar Inc.; China Products North America; The Chubb Corporation; CIGNA Corporation; Citigroup; The Coca-Cola Company; Corning Incorporated; Dewey Ballantine LLP; Eastman Kodak Company; Eaton Corporation; Emerson; Exxon Mobil Corporation; Federal Express Corporation; Ford Motor Company; GE Foundation; General Motors Corporation; Honeywell Inc.; Ingersoll-Rand Company; Jones Day; Kaye Scholer LLP; Lehman Brothers; Mary Kay Inc.; Merrill Lynch; Microsoft Corporation; Motorola Inc.; Nationwide Global Holdings; Payless ShoeSource Inc.; PepsiCo, Inc.; Praxair, Inc.; Time Warner Inc.; The Timken Company; TRW Inc.; United Technologies Corporation; UPS; Warner-Lambert Company; and Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company.
In 2005, the Forum has embarked on a series of commissioned papers and studies of the US-China commercial relationship. The goal of these studies is to uncover some important dimensions of the US-China commercial relationship that have received less attention than others. Without a full examination of all aspects of the relationship, it is difficult to devise appropriate solutions to the imbalances that exist.
The first paper, due May 15, is by Edward Gresser of the Progressive Policy Institute. Ed will go behind the US-China trade statistics to examine the implications of some of the underlying, less obvious recent shifts in the bilateral trade relationship. Ed will present his paper at the US-China Business Council's Annual Meeting on June 9.
The second is a longer-term series, entitled Assessment of the Impact of the US-China Trade and Investment Relationship on the US Economy. The series seeks to expand the discussion and deepen the understanding of the US-China commercial relationship. The three studies for which the Forum is seeking outside researchers are:
These studies are envisioned as short-term research projects that will result in papers of 20-40pp and which will be followed up by an event (or events) during which the researchers will present their results to the China business community.
May 2005
