“US isn’t trying to hold China’s economy back,” says Commerce Secretary Raimondo

Beijing [China], August 29 : The United States is not seeking to decouple from China’s economy or hold it back, US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo told senior Chinese economic officials in Beijing, CNN reported on Tuesday.

“The US-China commercial relationship is one of the most globally consequential, and managing that relationship responsibly is critical to both our nations and indeed to the whole world,” Raimondo told a group of officials, including Vice Premier He Lifeng, during her second day of meetings in the country.

She added, “And while we will, never of course compromise in protecting our national security, I want to be clear that we do not seek to decouple or to hold China’s economy back”.

Raimondo further emphasized that point a few hours later, during her meeting with Chinese Premier Li Qiang.

“President Biden asked me to come here to convey the message that we do not seek to decouple,” she told Li. “We seek to maintain our USD 700 billion commercial relationship with China,” CNN reported.

In response, the Chinese premier said that he hoped the two countries could strengthen communication and maintain the health of US-China economic relations.

“Only through dialogue can we understand each other’s concerns, find common ground and increase the possibility of cooperation,” CNN quoted Li as saying.

“Economic and trade relations are the ballast for Sino-US relations,” he added. “A well-maintained economic and trade relationship is beneficial to both [our] countries and the whole world.”

In reply to Li, Raimondo further stated, “We hope that commercial relationship can provide stability for the overall relationship”.

She also said the US hoped to work with China on other areas of concern, such as climate change, artificial intelligence as well as America’s fentanyl crisis.

Earlier, Vice Premier He, the head of China’s powerful economic planning agency, noted that Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Joe Biden met in Bali last November where they had reached an important consensus for the development of bilateral relations, CNN reported.

He said that he hoped the US would work with China to “adopt rational and practical practices” and put the leaders’ recommendations into practice. He added that he was ready to work with Raimondo.

Earlier on Tuesday, Raimondo had met with Culture and Tourism Minister Hu Heping. The two agreed to advance “people-to-people ties” through increased tourism as well as educational and student exchanges, according to Raimondo.

Notably, the US commerce secretary’s visit to China is the fourth by a Biden official in three months. It comes as the two sides seek to stabilize rocky relations. Her visit also coincides with a worsening slowdown in the world’s second-largest economy, CNN reported.

China’s growth forecasts have been downgraded by economists as exports and foreign investment slump, a real estate crisis deepens and worries spread about its general financial health.

From Beijing’s perspective, Raimondo’s department has played a key role in a number of areas, including restricting semiconductor exports, that have been the source of mounting friction, as per CNN.

On Monday, Raimondo said it was “profoundly important” that the US and China have a stable economic relationship. She added that the majority of US-China trade did not impact national security concerns, and it was possible to promote and protect US trade and security at the same time.

The US also announced on Monday that the two sides would establish new channels of communication for economic issues, including a working group composed of officials and businesses from both countries and a mechanism to exchange information on US export control enforcement, according to CNN.

Meanwhile, despite US officials visiting China, there have been several occasions, when Beijing and Washington have been at loggerheads.

Earlier this month, in a scathing attack on China, Biden had described Xi’s China as a “ticking time bomb” citing economic concerns. In June, Biden had even called XI a “dictator”. Both statements were denounced by Beijing.

In another major decision, the Biden administration imposed restrictions on US investment in high-tech areas in China and barred exports of advanced microchips.

A few weeks ago, Washington in a joint statement — after the trilateral summit between the US, Japan and South Korea — had also denounced the “dangerous and aggressive actions” by China in the Indo-Pacific region and opposed attempts to change the status quo in Indo-Pacific.

However, despite the tensions, US President Joe Biden has said that he is still hopeful of meeting his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping later this year. The two leaders are expected to meet in November this year, on the sidelines of an Asian leaders summit hosted by Biden.

Notably, Biden and Xi last spoke in person on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Bali last November.

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