Raimondo meets with Chinese Premier Li and declares that the US is not seeking decoupling

In a meeting with China’s leader on Tuesday, US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo urged cooperation between Beijing and Washington to address global concerns.

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 Premier Li Qiang on Tuesday to continue her discussions with Chinese authorities and to emphasize the importance of open lines of communication between the two countries.

She told Li that Washington wanted to “work with you as two global powers to do what is right for all of humanity” and pointed to issues of “global concern” including opioid addiction, artificial intelligence, and climate change.

“The world is expecting us to step up together to solve these problems,” she said.

Additionally, Raimondo reaffirmed the US view that it does not wish to separate its economy from that of China.

“We seek to maintain our $700 billion commercial relationship with China, and we hope that relationship can provide stability for the overall relationship,” she said.

In a meeting with China’s Vice Premier He Lifeng earlier in the day on Tuesday, Raimondo called US-China trade “one of the most consequential” in the world.

During a portion of the discussion that was available to media, she said that “managing that relationship responsibly is critical to both of our nations and truly to the whole world.”

She emphasized that the US will “never compromise in protecting our national security,” but she also said that Washington did not want to “hold back China’s economy.”

In response, he said that Beijing was ready to cooperate on “new, positive efforts to keep economic consensus and step up cooperation”.

Later on Tuesday, Raimondo departs for Shanghai, the hub of China’s economy, and will return on Wednesday.

“REDUCE MISLEADING”

Senior US officials have visited China recently, including the commerce secretary, as part of efforts by Washington to strengthen ties with its main strategic adversary.

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 criticized Biden’s executive order as “anti-globalization” last month after it was announced to limit some US investments in critical high-tech sectors in China.

The long-awaited regulations, which are set to go into effect next year, are aimed at industries including semiconductors and artificial intelligence.

However, during Raimondo’s visit, the US sought to have more direct conversations with the Chinese about such measures.

She met with Wang Wentao, the minister of commerce, on Monday, and the two parties decided to form a working group to resolve their many trade disagreements.

They also agreed to establish a platform to “reduce misunderstanding of US national security policies,” defined by Washington as a “export control enforcement information exchange.”

According to Washington, the information exchange was scheduled to meet for the first time on Tuesday at the ministry of commerce in Beijing.

Beijing’s portrayal is less positive, claiming Wang expressed “serious concerns” about Washington’s trade restrictions on 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.”