Paulson seeks greater access for Wall Street on final visit

US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson will seek to expand US financial service firms’ access to the Chinese market at the US-China Strategic Economic Dialogue (SED) in China this week, the Wall Street Journal reported. Paulson faces a challenge convincing his Chinese counterparts to further open China’s financial sector given the crisis faced by Wall Street. The talks will likely involve areas such as cooperation on energy and the environment and responses by the US and China to financial turmoil. Paulson, who will be making his last visit to China in his capacity as Treasury Secretary, will also look to ensure that the twice-yearly talks continue under the administration of Barack Obama, which begins in seven weeks. Zhu Guangyao, an assistant minister of finance, said China believed the SED should and would continue, though a spokeswoman for President-elect Obama would not say whether the process would carry on.