The US has issued an order restricting certain investments in high-tech areas in China (representative)
Beijing:
China’s premier warned US officials on Tuesday that moves to “politicize” trade issues would prove “disastrous” for the global economy, state media reported.
US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo is currently on a four-day bridge-building visit to China aimed at better managing tensions between the world’s two largest economies.
But in a meeting with Premier Li Qiang on Tuesday, the top official imposed U.S. trade restrictions against Beijing, which Washington insists are necessary for national security but which China says are designed to curb economic growth.
“Politicizing economic and trade issues and exaggerating the concept of security will… seriously affect bilateral relations and mutual trust,” he told Gina Raimondo, according to China’s official Xinhua news agency.
They also “undermine the interests of businesses and people of the two countries, and will have a disastrous impact on the global economy,” he added.
Relations between the two countries have plummeted to some of their lowest levels in decades, with US trade restrictions topping the list of disagreements.
This month, US President Joe Biden issued an executive order restricting certain US investments in sensitive high-tech areas in China — a measure Beijing labeled “anti-globalization.”
The long-awaited rules, expected to be implemented next year, target sectors such as semiconductors and artificial intelligence.
Premier Li Qiang on Tuesday urged the US to change course, saying that “the two sides should strengthen mutually beneficial cooperation, reduce friction and confrontation, and jointly promote the recovery of the world economy and improve global challenges to face”.
While Li Qiang used their meeting to condemn US policies, Gina Raimondo emphasized the importance of open communication between the two powers.
Referring to areas of “global concern” such as climate change, artificial intelligence and fentanyl addiction, she told Li Qiang that Washington “wants to work with you as two world powers to do what is right for all of humanity.”
“The world expects us to fight together to solve these problems,” she said.
Gina Raimondo also reiterated the US position that the country is not trying to decouple its economy from China’s.
“We aim to maintain our $700 billion commercial relationship with China, and we hope that the relationship can provide stability,” she said.
Earlier on Tuesday, Gina Raimondo met with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng, in which he described the commercial relationship between the US and China as “one of the most consistent” in the world.
“Managing that relationship responsibly is critical for both our countries and indeed for the whole world,” she said during a segment of the meeting that was open to journalists.
She stressed that the US “would never compromise on protecting our national security,” but added that Washington is not out to “hold back the Chinese economy.”
Gina Raimondo will leave for China’s economic powerhouse Shanghai later on Tuesday and will leave the country on Wednesday.
– ‘Reduce misunderstandings’ –
The Secretary of Commerce is one of several senior US officials to visit China in recent months — as part of Washington’s effort to improve working relations with its biggest strategic rival.
She has used the trip to seek more open discussions with the Chinese about restrictive trade restrictions.
On Monday, she met with Commerce Minister Wang Wentao, with the two sides agreeing to set up a working group to resolve the laundry list of trade disputes between them.
They also agreed to create what Washington called an “Export Control Enforcement Information Exchange” — described as a platform to “reduce misunderstandings about U.S. national security policy.”
Beijing has painted a less rosy picture than the United States throughout the trip, saying Wang Wentao had expressed “serious concerns” about Washington’s trade restrictions.
These included “U.S. Section 301 tariffs on Chinese goods, semiconductor policy, cross-investment restrictions, discriminatory subsidies and sanctions against Chinese companies,” the Beijing Ministry of Commerce said.
Washington defends the policy as necessary to “de-risk” its supply chains.
But Wang Wentao warned that they “contrary to market rules and the principle of fair competition, and will only harm the security and stability of global industrial and supply chains.”
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
