Henry M. Paulson, Secretary of the Treasury under President George W. Bush, shared his views on China-US relations at HKU in April.

A guest of the Faculty of Business and Economics and the HK Institute of Economics and Business Strategy, Mr Paulson is perhaps best known for the decisions made during the height of the financial crisis in 2008.

He spoke to an audience of over 1,000 people, including the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Lap-Chee Tsui, Chairman of Council, The Hon Leong Che-hung, government, business and community leaders, alumni, and faculty and students. The session was moderated by Victor Fung, Chairman of the Li & Fung Group.

On the current and future state of US-China economic relations, Mr Paulson stressed that the success of the US and China are dependent uponeach other. "I think there will always be differences, but the key is to build up the shared interests."

Asked what would be a potential wish list from the US business community, he said,"Opening up for investment and not as heavy regulation, and I always explain that every businessman loves competition unless it's in his market."

"Each country needs peace and stability in order to prosper, terrorism is an enemy for both of us, and there are both strong interests in national security. I think we need to build on the shared interest and common interests, and work through areas where there are differences," he said.