US Secretary of Commerce ends talks in China

As part of her agenda, the official is in Shanghai, where she plans to visit Disneyland, which is run by the Walt Disney Company, and will also talk with businessmen from the Asian giant.

During his stay in the capital, Raimundo had exchanges with Premier Li Qiang and Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao.

China has expressed concerns about issues such as tariffs imposed by the United States on Chinese products, its policies on semiconductors, restrictions on mutual investment, discriminatory subsidies, and sanctions on Chinese companies.

The Minister of Commerce stressed that generalizing the concept of national security does not serve normal economic and trade exchanges.

On the other hand, he indicated that unilateral and protectionist measures contradict market rules and the principle of fair competition.

According to a joint statement, the two sides established a working group composed of government officials at the deputy ministerial level and representatives of the business sector to seek solutions to specific trade issues.

This working group will hold meetings twice a year, while Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao and his US counterpart have agreed to meet at least once a year.

In addition, the two parties have launched a mechanism for exchanging information on export controls, which will operate in accordance with their respective laws.

Beijing and Washington also agreed that experts from the two countries would hold technical consultations on the protection of trade secrets and confidential trade information during the process of improving administrative licenses.

Raimondo is the fourth high-ranking official from the Joe Biden administration to arrive in China in three months, in an effort to ease the deterioration of bilateral relations.

The North American country currently imposes restrictions on many Chinese companies and the White House orders more limited investment in the semiconductor, microelectronics, quantum information technology and artificial intelligence sectors in the Asian giant.

Beijing recently denounced the politicization of business that the United States wants to do by using national security concerns to prevent investment.

poem/idm