Tuesday, the third day of US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo’s visit to Beijing, will see the start of a new round of negotiations between US and Chinese officials on divisive trade topics.
China and US hold talks on trade: As Washington works to ease tensions with the second-largest economy in the world, Raimondo’s trip to China is the most recent one by a top US official in recent months.
She met with Wang Wentao, the minister of commerce, on Monday, and they decided to form a working group to resolve their numerous trade disagreements.
They also agreed to establish what Washington referred to as a “export control enforcement information exchange” as a platform to “reduce misunderstanding of US national security policies”.
According to Washington, the information exchange will meet for the first time on Tuesday at the Ministry of Commerce in Beijing.
The Commerce Department stated that “Secretary Raimondo emphasised the importance of ensuring open lines of communication between the United States and China and took concrete steps to deliver on that goal” in a statement about the meeting.
Beijing, however, projected a less positive picture, claiming Wang had expressed “serious concerns” on Washington’s trade restrictions against Chinese companies.
Beijing’s trade ministry listed them as “US Section 301 tariffs on Chinese goods, its semiconductor policies, limitations on two-way investment, discriminatory subsidies, and sanctions on Chinese enterprises.”
The measures, according to Washington, are required to “de-risk” its supply chains.
Wang, however, issued a warning that they “run counter to market rules and the principle of fair competition and will only harm the security and stability of the international industrial and supply chains.”
On Tuesday, Raimondo is scheduled to meet with Vice Premier He Lifeng, Minister of Culture Hu Heping, and Premier Li Qiang.
She will then travel to Shanghai, one of China’s economic hubs, before departing the nation on Wednesday.
‘Healthy competition’
Senior US officials have visited China recently, including Raimondo, as part of an effort by Washington to strengthen relations with its main strategic foe.
With US trade restrictions on the top of the list of differences, relations between the two nations have deteriorated to some of their lowest points in decades.
Beijing criticised Biden’s executive order as “anti-globalization” this month after he issued it to limit certain US investments in sensitive high-tech sectors in China.
“Next year, the long-awaited regulations are aiming at industries including semiconductors and artificial intelligence.”
During a visit to Beijing last month, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen tried to reassure Chinese officials about the anticipated curbs.
The great majority of our trade and investment relationship, Raimondo said to Chinese officials on Monday, “does not involve national security concerns,” even though there is “no room for compromise or negotiation” on US national security.
“We want China to engage in healthy competition. We both benefit from a developing Chinese economy that adheres to the law, the speaker declared.
While visiting Beijing in June, President Xi Jinping met with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and stated that they had made significant progress on several major points of disagreement. John Kerry, a US climate envoy, also travelled to China in July.