Washington - The Information Technology Industry Council (ITI), the global voice of the tech sector, is encouraged by the commercial outcomes of the Presidential Summit between U.S. President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping today. The leaders addressed some key concerns of global technology companies, and ITI looks forward to supporting implementation of these commitments.

The outcomes included broad statements by the U.S. and China agreeing to limit the scope of national security reviews, make Information Communication Technology (ICT) cybersecurity regulations consistent with international commitments, and to agree to transparent and open processes to promote innovation: all outcomes that ITI has strongly advocated for in recent months. The commitments focus on major issues of concern that international technology companies have had in recent years after experiencing an increasingly difficult business environment in China.

“These outcomes from the presidential summit reinforce the importance of having open systems to create an environment for innovation and sustained economic growth,” said ITI President and CEO Dean Garfield. “The presidents have emphasized that open market competition should determine winners and losers, not government policies. Today’s commitments reinforce discussions that have been ongoing between the tech sector and the two governments for years, and we hope this will inspire officials to act now and create more transparent processes that ensure market competition and equal treatment.”

ITI was at the forefront of calling for and outlining the actions that both countries needed to improve the business environment for global ICT companies in China. For the past few months, ITI participated in ongoing talks with officials from both the U.S. and China and on August 11, 2015, ITI, along with 18 other technology associations, sent a letter to the White House discussing how China’s proposed protectionist regulations would be harmful to the technology sector. Then on September 2, 2015, ITI outlined recommendations in advance of President Xi’s visit in its TechWonk blog.

CONTACT: Adora Jenkins; (202) 524-4397

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