The United States and China agreed to create a working group on trade issues, as the agreement was reached in Beijing by the US Secretary of Commerce, Gina Raimondo, and her Chinese counterpart, Wang Wentao.
The agreement has been reached in the context of attempts by the two world powers to de-escalate bilateral tensions. Raimondo is the fourth U.S. government official to travel to China this year, a visit that could culminate in a meeting between its president, Joe Biden, and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Both countries have agreed to create a working group to “seek solutions to trade and investment issues,” according to a statement from the U.S. Department of Commerce.
The working group will meet twice a year at the vice ministerial level, and the United States will host the first meeting in early 2024. They have also agreed to establish what Washington has called an “exchange of information on export control enforcement,” presented as a platform that “reduces misunderstandings of U.S. national security policies.”
“We share $700 billion in trade… It is extremely important that we have stable relations,” Raimondo told her counterpart, according to an official statement.
“This is a complicated relationship, a difficult relationship. We will of course disagree on a number of issues, but I think we can move forward if we are direct, open, and pragmatic,” he said.
