The forum began with a panel discussion among the three foreign participants, during which they addressed key economic issues both in China and around the world. Mr. Dollar began by addressing the current situation in the U.S. economy, which had just received disappointing data in terms of economic growth and increasing unemployment, an unusual development at this stage of a recovery. Mr. Dollar also explained why it is necessary for the United State Congress to increase the debt ceiling in order to avoid defaulting on its obligations and expressed that he is cautiously optimistic about a resolution being reached by the August 2 deadline. Mr. Kuijs said that the performance of the world economy is very important to the Chinese economy and that he is not overly concerned with a slowdown in the Chinese economy as the growth rate is still very strong and the government is able to make adjustments when needed. Mr. Marin addressed the European economy, saying that he believes much of the negative speculation on the Euro is misplaced as the Euro is in better condition than currencies in other developed countries. He pointed out that the total annual debt of countries in the Euro zone is 6% of GDP, which is a lower rate than all other developed countries. He also added that China has been very supportive by buying some treasury bonds from countries that have been experiencing financial difficulties. He believes that this has been a good deal for China because these bonds have higher yields and China is benefiting from the risk yield.