US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo on Thursday expressed concern about recent actions Beijing has taken against US companies in a meeting with Chinese Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao (王文濤).
The encounter marked the highest-level visit to the US by a Chinese official in more than two years.
Raimondo spoke about “the recent spate of PRC actions taken against US companies operating in the PRC,” during the meeting in Washington, the department said in a statement, using the abbreviation for the People’s Republic of China.
Photo: Reuters
She did not mention any company by name, but China on Sunday said it was targeting Idaho-based Micron Technology Inc’s products, citing national security reasons, a step that has triggered calls in Washington for retaliation.
The pair also had “candid and substantive” talks about issues relating to the US-China commercial relationship, including the overall environment in both countries for trade and investment, and areas for potential cooperation, the department said.
The Chinese Ministry of Commerce in its own statement said that the meeting was candid and constructive, and that Wang expressed concerns about US chip policy and export controls with Raimondo.
Wang was on his way to an APEC forum in Detroit, Michigan, where economic coercion and reorienting supply chains were expected to be on the agenda.
He was expected to meet with US Trade Representative Katherine Tai (戴琪) at the APEC gathering.
The trip fits a broader trend of Chinese officials traveling more often in the months since the country ended its COVID-19 restrictions.
It also coincides with a push by the administration of US President Joe Biden to prevent relations between the two countries from worsening after a series of episodes, ranging from the furor over an alleged spy balloon that traversed the US in February to tit-for-tat sanctions and export controls on semiconductors.
Speaking at the end of the G7 summit in Japan on Sunday, Biden expressed optimism that relations would “thaw very shortly.”
After that, Xie Feng (謝鋒) arrived in the US to serve as China’s new ambassador.
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