According to the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, Ren Hongbin, the council's chairman, is leading a delegation of Chinese entrepreneurs to visit the United States. The reciprocal visit after the one to China by US business executives a few days ago, represents a Chinese endeavor to create a positive scenario for bilateral business ties amid the souring of political ties.

The CCPIT also operates in the name of the China Chamber of International Commerce, and is registered as a nongovernmental national trade facilitator.

The exchange illustrates Beijing's desire to preserve operational China-US economic and trade relations via communication at nongovernmental levels. But it also carries very high hopes for fostering a correct US perception of China at a time when Washington is planning to further tighten the screws to stymie bilateral scientific and technological exchanges with China.

The visits have followed swiftly on the heels of the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, which initiated a new round of reform and further opening-up. That means more opportunities will be created that foreign businesses can profit from. That is the message Beijing wanted the visiting US executives to take home with them, and one their Chinese counterparts are taking to the US.

Four days after the key CPC meeting, a delegation of US business executives led by the US-China Chamber of Commerce Chairman of the Board Rajesh Subramaniam arrived in China. Not only the timing, but also the roster of visitors, including key executives of Micron, Goldman Sachs, Apple and Boeing, were highly symbolic. Beijing wants to assure the outside world about its continuous commitment to reform and openness, and showcase the enduring interest in the potential of the Chinese market.

According to a CCPIT spokesperson, the US business delegation came at its invitation, met with Vice-Premier He Lifeng and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, visited key economic and trade authorities, and compared notes with Chinese business leaders. Both He and Wang elaborated on the central leadership's focus on more reform and openness. Wang urged the visitors to present to the US government, Congress and all walks of life a real comprehensive image of China, contribute more objective, positive, rational voices and help the US form a correct understanding of China.

The Chinese leadership has on various occasions stated that it believes the hope for improved China-US relations lies in the two peoples, and its foundation lies at the nongovernmental levels. The CCPIT initiative was based on the conviction that the two countries' business communities are important preservers of and contributors to bilateral relations, who want bilateral ties to stabilize and move forward, said the CCPIT spokesperson. A core objective of the Chinese business delegation, according to her, is to inform the US business community about the CPC plenum. Per Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning, the over 300 major reform measures the plenum endorsed sent to the rest of the world a strong message about China's resolute dedication to reform and opening up.

As Wang Yi told US State Secretary Antony Blinken on the sidelines of the ASEAN foreign ministers meeting in Vientiane, capital of Laos, on Saturday, Beijing finds Washington's "erroneous understanding of China" problematic. Wang told the latter the CPC plenum is a key to understanding the Party as well as the present and future of China.

After putting forward a comprehensive package of reforms at its latest plenum, the Party is committed to ensuring its goals and objectives are well understood both at home and abroad. China hopes its opening-up drive will be better appreciated and advanced through increased exchanges and cooperation with the global community.