In a sign of thawing ties between the US and China, US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo and China’s Minister of Commerce, Wang Wentao, discussed their bilateral trade relationship on Thursday.
According to a press release by the US Department of Commerce, the two diplomats, who met in Washington, discussed several issues, such as “the overall environment in both countries for trade and investment and areas for potential cooperation.”
In addition, Raimondo raised concerns about China’s recent actions against US companies operating in China. She also “expressed her commitment to continuing to build on the engagement.”
Washington added that the meeting was “part of ongoing efforts to maintain open lines of communication and responsibly manage the relationship.”
Today, I met with the Minister of Commerce for the People's Republic of China Wang Wentao. We discussed the 🇺🇸-🇨🇳 commercial relationship, opportunities for trade and investment, and the recent PRC actions taken against US companies operating in the PRC.https://t.co/OoewAmbe6f pic.twitter.com/jzWsGET7qF
— Secretary Gina Raimondo (@SecRaimondo) May 26, 2023
Timing
The meeting comes after China’s new ambassador to the US, Xie Feng, warned of “serious difficulties” in relations.
“We hope that the United States will work together with China to increase dialogue, to manage differences and also to expand our cooperation so that our relationship will be back to the right track,” Xie said after landing in the US earlier this week.
However, US President Joe Biden said in Japan last weekend that “everything changed in terms of talking to one another” following the spy balloon incident, but that the cold ties will “begin to thaw very shortly.”
Hinting the thaw, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said that the US remains committed “to maintaining channels of communication with [China] to responsibly manage competition.”