China and US resume high-level contacts

Official top-level contacts between the US and China are resuming for the first time since the February 2023 downing of a Chinese balloon over US soil. China’s Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao will visit the United States on May 25-26, The Washington Post reports. On the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, which will be attended by trade leaders, he will meet with his US counterpart Gina Raimondo and US Trade Representative Catherine Tai.

Earlier, Wang Wentao spoke about Beijing’s desire to establish economic cooperation with the United States. Speaking to US businessmen in Shanghai on May 22, the Chinese minister stressed that China is open to business and will gladly accept US investment. Despite the expressed desire to cooperate in the economy, the situation in relations between Beijing and Washington continues to be tense – the US establishment is still hostile to China.

Relationships in the business sphere are not the best. Businessmen from the USA are afraid that toughening of the Chinese law on espionage can significantly complicate entrepreneurial activity in China. The essence of this law is to expand the concept of “espionage” and the protection of documents related to state interests and security. According to a statement from the US Chamber of Commerce, such an adjustment to the law “will undermine China’s previously outlined policy of openness and its desire to attract foreign investment.” Earlier on May 2, U.S. Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns said such measures could make it illegal for U.S. companies to operate in China on a day-to-day basis.

The visit of the Chinese Minister of Commerce to the United States will not lead to a détente in bilateral relations, said Vasily Kashin, director of the Center for Comprehensive European and International Studies at the Higher School of Economics. “On the one hand, the Chinese are putting pressure on Western businesses, on the other hand, Washington has imposed economic sanctions against a number of Chinese enterprises. Nevertheless, the two states maintain a very high level of mutual trade, the expert said. “In these negotiations, the parties will first of all agree on the rules of the game in the field of economic cooperation: no one is interested in destabilizing the global economy.” According to Kashin, the visit of the minister of trade will become a trial ball for negotiations of more representative delegations. “Probably, a meeting with the participation of Secretary of State Anthony Blinken will take place soon, and contact has been established between the defense departments of the two countries, which is extremely necessary in the current situation,” the expert believes. At the same time, bilateral relations between Beijing and Washington will remain confrontational, Kashin said. “The Americans are not satisfied with the expansionist model of the Chinese economy and their foreign policy line. In addition, they cannot come to terms with the growing power of China in the global economy, which threatens US global dominance, ”the expert concluded.