WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo met Chinese Ambassador Xie Feng on Tuesday and had a “productive discussion” ahead of her trip to China, the U.S. Commerce Department said in a statement.
Raimondo is due to visit China next week for talks with government officials and U.S. business leaders on the latest visit by a U.S. official seeking to halt a slide in relations between the world’s two biggest economies.
“Secretary Raimondo raised issues of importance to the United States and American businesses and workers and discussed issues relating to the U.S.-China commercial relationship, challenges faced by U.S. businesses, and areas for potential cooperation,” the U.S. Commerce Department said.
Xie said that China’s policy towards the U.S. had maintained continuity, and fundamentally follows the three principles of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation, according to a statement released by the Chinese embassy.
“Today’s world is chaotic and intertwined, the global economic recovery is weak, and multiple crises are emerging one after another,” Xie was quoted as saying, adding that “working together is the right way”.
During the meeting, Xie stated his position on economic and trade issues of concern to China and asked the U.S. to attach great importance to them and take action to resolve them.
Xie said he hoped the U.S. and China would meet each other halfway, increase cooperation and jointly make efforts to stabilize relations.
(Reporting by Kanishka Singh and Eric Beech in Washington, additional reporting by Bernard Orr in Beijing; editing by Jonathan Oatis, Robert Birsel)
