BEIJING - President Hu Jintao and United States President Barack Obama agreed to set up the mechanism of the China-US Strategic and Economic Dialogue (S&ED) on April 1, 2009, during their first meeting, in London on the sidelines of the G20 financial summit.

The S&ED is the highest-level bilateral forum between the two nations and offers an opportunity to discuss a wide range of issues and build closer ties. Two rounds of the two-track dialogue have been held so far.

State Councilor Dai Bingguo and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton co-chair the "strategic track" of the dialogue, while Vice-Premier Wang Qishan and US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner host the "economic track".

The mechanism combined and replaced two previous ones: China-US Strategic Dialogue and China-US Strategic Economic Dialogue. The former was initiated by President Hu and then US president George W. Bush in 2004. The latter was inaugurated by former US treasury secretary Henry Paulson and then vice-premier Wu Yi in Beijing in September 2006.

Beijing and Washington have taken turns to host the dialogue. At the first meeting of the S&ED held in Washington in July 2009, the US promised to recognize China's market economy status as soon as possible.

In May 2010, the second meeting of the S&ED was held in Beijing. Both sides reached a consensus on how to move forward in the realms of financial services, civil aviation, and energy and environment. Seven agreements were signed.

China Daily - Xinhua

(China Daily 05/10/2011 page3)