BEIJING, May 24 (UPI) -- The second China-U.S. Strategic and Economic Dialogue is a "unique opportunity" to discuss international financial reforms, China Daily said Monday.
The high-level meeting opened in Beijing Monday. The first round was held last July in Washington, while the developed world was mired in a financial crisis.
The current meeting is being conducted while U.S.-China relations remain strained over growing trade disputes, burgeoning U.S. deficits and the debate over the undervalued yuan.
"If the first round of the S&ED last July was chiefly about coordinating bilateral and international efforts to arrest the global recession ... the current one provides a unique opportunity to talk about reforms vital to both sides as well as the international community," the newspaper said.
It said the global financial crisis exposed loopholes in the financial and economic system that encouraged the proliferation of toxic financial products.
But in the absence of genuine attempts to reform the system, some Western observers "pointed to the Chinese currency as the root cause of the trouble," the newspaper said.
However, the article praised the U.S. Senate's recent passage of a sweeping financial reform measure.
"If both (China and the United States) can build on the momentum of financial reform the United States has initiated, they may make the S&ED a key platform for a wide range of reforms including financial regulation and climate change," China Daily said.
