BEIJING: As uncertainties mount ahead of the presidential election in the United States in November, high-level meetings between Chinese and US commerce officials can offer enterprises crucial insights into the future economic and trade relationship between the two major economies, say market observers and business executives.
Wang Shouwen, vice-minister of commerce and China international trade representative, and Marisa Lago, US undersecretary of commerce for international trade, co-chaired the second vice-ministerial meeting of the China-US commercial and trade working group last Saturday in Tianjin, the Commerce Ministry said in a press statement.
Clarifying the boundaries of national security in the trade and economic sphere would help stabilise business cooperation expectations, the statement quoted Wang as saying, adding that he opposed using “overcapacity” as an excuse to impose trade and investment restrictions.
China and the US agreed to support trade and investment promotion activities organised by both countries and pledged to maintain communication across a range of sectors, including cross-border data flow, inspection and quarantine, healthcare, medical devices and clean energy, according to the press statement.
Wang Xiaosong, a professor at Renmin University of China’s School of Economics, said that given the interconnected nature of the global economy, any changes in Sino-US trade relations could have wide-ranging impacts.
The United States is China’s third-largest trading partner, with bilateral trade value reaching 2.72 trillion yuan in the first seven months of 2024, up 4.1% year-on-year, accounting for 11% of China’s total foreign trade value. — China Daily/ANN
