US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo met with several top Chinese officials including Premier Li Qiang and Vice Premier He Lifeng at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on August 29.
During these meetings, Ms. Raimondo asserted that the United States is not seeking to sever economic ties with China. However, she also expressed concerns that have led the business community to describe China as an “uninvestable” environment.
“More and more businesses are complaining to me that they cannot invest in China because it is too risky,” the minister said.
However, Liu Pengwu, a spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, later denied this. According to Liu, of the 70,000 American companies operating in China, 90% are profitable and most want to stay here. He also affirmed that Beijing is creating more favorable conditions for foreign companies to access this market.
Chinese Premier Li Qiang meets with US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on August 29. Photo: CGTN/Xinhua
Ms Raimondo has also spoken out about issues involving US companies such as Intel, Micron and Boeing, but said she “has not received any commitments”.
China has failed to approve an antitrust deal, forcing Intel to abandon its $5.4 billion deal to buy Israeli chipmaker Tower Semiconductor in mid-August.
In May, the country also banned domestic critical information infrastructure operators from purchasing Micron products due to national security concerns.
Additionally, Beijing has halted almost all purchases of Boeing jets and has mostly ordered from Airbus in recent years.
At the high-level meetings on August 29, Ms. Raimondo also asked China to cooperate with the United States on broader threats such as climate change and artificial intelligence.
US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo also met with Chinese Vice Premier He Lapfeng on August 29. Photo: SCMP/AFP
In return, China also asked the US to ease export controls on advanced technology and withdraw its recently introduced ban on investment in some new advanced technologies.
The US Commerce Secretary has rejected those demands, but assured the Chinese that the export controls apply to only a small percentage of US-China trade, and that both sides should take advantage of other economic opportunities.
“We will never compromise on protecting our national security, but I want to be clear that we do not seek to decouple or contain the Chinese economy.”
According to Xinhua, Chinese Premier Li Qiang told Ms. Raimondo that the economic relationship between China and the US is a “win-win” relationship.
However, he also warned that “politicizing economic and trade issues and over-hyping the concept of security will not only seriously affect bilateral relations and mutual trust, but also erode the interests of businesses and people of the two countries, and seriously impact the global economy . ”
Nguyen Tuyet (According to NY Times, Reuters)
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