US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo yesterday met with her Chinese counterpart in Beijing, saying it was “profoundly important” for the world’s two biggest economies to have a stable relationship.
Her visit is the latest in a series of high-level trips to China by US officials as Washington works to cool trade tensions with Beijing.
The trips could culminate in a meeting between their leaders, with US President Joe Biden saying that he was expecting to sit down with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) this year.
Photo: AFP
Raimondo yesterday morning met with Chinese Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao (王文濤), describing the economic relationship between the two nations as “the most significant in the world.”
“We share US$700 billion dollars of trade and I concur with you that it is profoundly important that we have a stable economic relationship,” she said, according to a readout from the US Department of Commerce.
“It’s a complicated relationship; it’s a challenging relationship,” she told Wang. “We will of course disagree on certain issues, but I believe we can make progress if we are direct, open, and practical.”
Wang, in turn, told Raimondo that it was a “great pleasure to conduct dialogue and coordination with you in the field of economy and trade.”
Raimondo arrived in Beijing on Sunday and was met by Lin Feng (林峰), director of the commerce ministry’s Americas and Oceania Department, as well as US Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns.
In posts on the social media platform X, Raimondo said that she was “looking forward to a productive few days.”
Yesterday also saw her visit a showcase of US beauty products for the Chinese market at a Beijing hotel, accompanied by Burns.
During her trip, she is to travel to China’s economic powerhouse Shanghai, the commerce department said. She is to leave tomorrow.
Relations between the US and China have plummeted to some of their lowest levels in decades, with US trade curbs near the top of the list of disagreements.
Washington says they are crucial to safeguarding national security, but China sees them as seeking to slow its economic rise.
Biden this month issued an executive order aimed at restricting certain US investments in sensitive high-tech areas in China — a move Beijing blasted as being “anti-globalization.”
The long-anticipated rules, expected to be implemented next year, target sectors such as semiconductors and artificial intelligence.
US Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen sought to reassure Chinese officials about the expected curbs during a visit to Beijing last month, promising that any new moves would be implemented in a transparent way.
Raimondo yesterday told Chinese officials that while there was “no room to compromise or negotiate” on US national security, “the vast majority of our trade and investment relationship does not involve national security concerns.”
“We believe a strong Chinese economy is a good thing,” she said. “We seek healthy competition with China. A growing Chinese economy that plays by the rules is in both of our interests.”
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