Xi addresses US concerns on cyber crime

President Xi Jinping pledged in a speech here on Tuesday night to work with the United States on fighting cybercrime, saying that the Chinese government was a staunch defender of cybersecurity. "The Chinese government will not, in whatever form, engage in commercial theft. Hacking against government networks is a crime that must be punished in accordance with the law and relevant international treaties," Mr. Xi said in an address to American business executives.

At the end of his first day of a state visit to the US, Xi told his audience, which also included Chinese business leaders, that "China is ready to set up a high-level joint dialogue mechanism with the US on fighting cybercrimes."He appeared to be attempting to reassure his business audience, many of its members from tech industries at the forefront of cyberspace issues, but how far his words would be believed by the Obama administration remained to be seen.

At a briefing for reporters in Washington on Tuesday, a senior China adviser to President Obama said that "we won't paper over those differences," a reference to cyberspace and economic issues. There would be "very robust discussion" with Xi, said the adviser, Daniel J. Kritenbrink.

Two weeks before Xi's arrival, one of his closest aides, Meng Jianzhu, the head of domestic security, visited Washington to deal with the administration's accusations that China was responsible for massive cyberattacks on American businesses and government agencies. The Chinese deny the administration's claims. The meetings failed to lead to a concrete agreement that the administration had hoped for on how to deal with such attacks, particularly the theft of trade secrets from American companies that benefit their Chinese competitors, according to a senior administration official.

The tone of Xi's address across a range of issues was positive, without a jarring word. He refrained from talking about thorny differences with the United States over China's construction of artificial islands in the South China Sea. On China's softening economy he sounded a soothing tone, saying that all economies faced difficulties and though China was under downward pressure "this is only a problem in the course of progress."

He told audience not to worry about the stock market, whose sudden plunge over the summer sent shock waves across the world and defended his government's intervention, which failed to stop the fall.

@The New York Times