A meeting between the US Secretary of Commerce and her Chinese counterpart in Beijing

US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo met with her Chinese counterpart Wang Wentao in Beijing on Monday, as Washington seeks to ease tensions in the trade relationship between the world's two largest economies.

Raimondo's visit, which extends until Wednesday, is part of a series of high-level visits by US officials to China in recent months.

These visits are set to culminate in a meeting between the leaders of the two countries, as US President Joe Biden recently mentioned his expectation of a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping later this year.

On Monday morning, Raimondo met with Wang Wentao, who affirmed, "Conducting discussions and coordination with you in the field of economy and trade was a pleasure for me."

The US Secretary arrived in Beijing on Sunday and met with China's Ministry of Commerce Director for the Americas and Oceania, Lin Feng, in addition to the US Ambassador Nicholas Burns.

Raimondo stated in a post on the social platform "X" that she was "looking forward to a productive few days."

She added, "I've just arrived in Beijing for a few days where I'll be engaging in meetings with senior officials of the People's Republic of China and US business leaders."

The US Department of Commerce mentioned that Raimondo hopes to engage in constructive talks on issues related to the trade relationship between the United States and China, as well as the challenges facing American businesses and potential areas of cooperation.

She is also expected to head to China's economic powerhouse, Shanghai, according to Washington.

The relationship between the United States and China has deteriorated to its lowest level in decades, with trade restrictions imposed by Washington dominating the disputes.

Washington claims its restrictions are necessary to protect national security, while Beijing views them as an attempt to hinder its economic advancement.

Earlier this month, President Biden issued an executive order aimed at imposing restrictions on specific American investments in sensitive, advanced technology fields in China—a move denounced by Beijing as "anti-globalization."

These anticipated regulations, likely to take effect next year, target sectors such as semiconductors and artificial intelligence.

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen sought to reassure Chinese officials about the anticipated restrictions during a visit to Beijing last month, pledging that any steps would be implemented transparently.

In June, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken traveled to Beijing, where he met with Xi Jinping and noted progress in several contentious issues. US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry also visited China in July.

However, the visits by Yellen and Blinken did not lead to any significant breakthroughs and were met with protests from Beijing, following a summit held recently at Camp David between the United States, South Korea, and Japan, which aimed to address matters including confronting China.

Following the summit, President Biden indicated that he still expects to meet with Xi Jinping again this year.

In November, he invited his Chinese counterpart to visit San Francisco during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, which includes China.

The two leaders are likely to meet next month in New Delhi on the sidelines of the G20 summit for the world's major economies.



AFP