U.S.–China Strategic and Economic Dialogue U.S. cabinet officials and agency heads participated making it one of the largest U.S. delegation to travel to a foreign country. As special representatives of President Barack Obama and President Hu Jintao, U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Chinese Vice Premier Wang Qishan were joined by many high-level officials for the Economic Track. U.S. Participants: Chinese Participants: The third round the third round of China-US Strategic and Economic Dialogue (SED) were held from May 9 to 10, 2011 in Washington, US. Vice Premier Wang Qishan and State Councilor Dai Bingguo who are special representatives of Chinese President Hu Jintao and
Hu Jintao the curtailing of freedom of speech drew extensive criticism from human rights organizations and Western governments, while artists and writers inside the country chided increased restrictions on cultural expressions during Hu's term. Although in the early years of his tenure Hu attempted to pioneer a form of "intraparty democracy" that called for greater participation from lower-ranked members to determine policy and select the leadership, there was little evidence of meaningful changes to the party's governing structure and decision-making process. Consensus-based decision-making became a hallmark of the Hu era. Hu was never a strongman, did not rule by fiat, and was