(Beijing) China’s vice-minister of commerce told his American counterpart on Saturday that a modern China was an economic “opportunity” and “not a threat” to the United States, during discussions he deemed “professional, rational and pragmatic.”
Trade is one of the many areas of friction between the world’s two leading powers, alongside rivalry over technology, tensions in the South China Sea and Taiwan.
But both Beijing and Washington have been trying since last year to maintain exchanges despite their differences.
Chinese Vice Minister of Commerce Wang Shouwen received US Under Secretary of State for Commerce Marisa Lago in Tianjin (north China) on Saturday. This is the second meeting this year between these two officials responsible for international trade issues.
They held “professional, rational and pragmatic” discussions on political and trade issues raised in particular by the business communities of the two countries, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce said in a statement.
Wang Shouwen expressed his country’s concerns about the numerous US customs surcharges or sanctions targeting Chinese companies or products.
He also stressed that China opposed the US restrictions on trade and investment “under the pretext of Chinese overcapacity.”
“A modern China, with a large population, is an opportunity for the United States, not a threat,” he stressed to his interlocutor, according to his ministry.
Chinese companies and products are the target of numerous American sanctions or restrictions, taken in particular in the name of the fight against unfair competition or national security.
The United States announced on Thursday a further tightening of controls on exports of cutting-edge technologies, a measure which targets the Asian giant, among others.
Determined to curb China’s advance in the automobile sector, the United States also announced in May the quadrupling of customs duties (from 25% to 100%) on imported Chinese electric vehicles.
The two powers, however, seem determined to continue communicating. According to the White House, they have begun to prepare a possible telephone exchange in the coming weeks between US President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping.