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USITO 2009 Fall Board Meeting Report

On November 19, 2009 Thursday, USITO hosted its 2009 Fall Board Meeting in Beijing. Joining the meeting included representatives from USITO’s four parent associations (the other one TechAmerica was not able to make it this time): the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA), the Software and Information Industry Association (SIIA), the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), as well as USITO’s member companies including AT&T, Dell, HP, IBM, Intel, Qualcomm, Microsoft, SUN, Sybase, TI, etc.

The one-day meeting started by welcoming remarks from USITO board chairman Nick Fetchko of TIA, followed by USITO president Dr. John Chiang’s presentation on 2009 operations review and outlook for the coming year. The meeting also addressed key policy issues with heated discussion around the table, and agreed on strengthening concerted effort to keep elevating the USITO platform to bridging U.S.-China ICT industries. In the afternoon session, four U.S. government officials from the U.S. Embassy in China were invited to USITO board meeting and briefed the board directors the China policy agenda of USG, and compared notes and exchanged views with the meeting participants on a number of issues.

At 5pm, shortly after adjourning, Beijing Vice-Mayor Mr. Gou Zhongwen came to the board meeting venue to greet USITO's board of directors. Mr. Gou kindly sent his regards to everyone and expressed his goodwill to enhance the relationship between Beijing Government and USITO. He said he fully supports the idea of co-hosting a joint forum with USITO in the coming year, and would like to provide financial support to such event. USITO Chairman Nick Fetchko expressed his gratitude on behalf of USITO board, and committed to the vice-mayor that USITO, its parent associations and member companies will try their best to foster better U.S.-China business ties.

In the evening, USITO hosted a cross-chamber cocktail reception, inviting friends from embassies and international associations operating in China to meet with its board of directors. Joining the event included U.S. embassy officials, European Commission officials, chief representatives from EU Chamber, USCBC, JEITA, CEA, among others.

During this week of board directors' visit, USITO has also coordinated or helped facilitate a number of meetings with the Chinese Government and the academia. The following items are a summary of the major meetings:

1. November 17 Tuesday USITO's parent association representatives visited the State Encryption Management Bureau (SEMB). The deputy director of the bureau met the USITO delegation, both parties exchanged views on the latest encryption control policies.

2. November 18 Wednesday USITO met with CNCA (Administration of Certification & Accreditation of China) to discuss the latest policy development of the 13 electronic products CCC certification issue.

3. November 18 Wednesday The USITO delegation visited the Peking University's Software and Semiconductor School, the top academia in China on information security. Both parties explored ways for possible cooperation in the information security field.

4. November 19 Thursday USITO Board Meeting, USITO board director meeting with Beijing vice-mayor, and USITO cocktail reception.

5. November 20 Friday USITO Telecom Law event featuring MIIT official and TIA director; USITO meeting with Director General of MOFCOM's American Affairs Department.

*** More details to be available in our official website: www.USITO.org ***

MOFCOM Urges U.S. to Loosen Hi-Tech Export Limits

According to a latest Xinhua News Agency report, as the United States reviews its restrictions on hi-tech exports to China, the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) urged the US to shorten the timetable for loosening export controls. The visiting Commerce Secretary Gary Locke said that, Obama has asked Secretary of State and relevant agencies to re-examine the U.S.'s limits on hi-tech equipment shipped to China. Though the US must maintain oversight of sensitive technologies dealing with national security, it needs to loosen restrictions on technologies that pose no harm to the US, according to Locke.

Hi-tech export control is among the topics, including anti-protectionism and intellectual property rights, to be discussed between Chinese and US trade officials during Obama's visit, a MOFCOM spokesman said. MOFCOM also urged the US to loosen the hi-tech export restrictions as soon as possible, as the “Washington's restrictions indeed affected unbalanced Sino-US trade ties and strongly restrained the competitiveness of US-made products.”

Chinese hi-tech imports from the US have shrunk since 2001. Eight years ago, the US accounted for 18.3 percent of Chinese hi-tech imports, whereas it is now at 7 percent. Click Here for More Detail

Member in the News: Intel takes green view for future blueprint

Intel Corp aims to cut carbon emissions by 20 percent in China in 2012 from the level of 2007 through major restructuring, the world's biggest chip maker said.

The environmentally friendly policy was one of the company's long-term strategies, said Shelly Esque, Intel's vice president of legal and corporate affairs. "It doesn't conflict between environmental protection and Intel's development and interests," Esque said in Intel's Shanghai office.

Besides environmental protection, Intel has invested heavily on education and community services in China, already spending US$4.7 billion in the nation. It recently relocated a Shanghai-based chip assembly plant and test facility to a plant in Chengdu in southwest China's Sichuan Province. Detail