China’s commerce minister to meet US trade representative this month: sources
- Meeting between Wang Wentao and Katherine Tai is ‘likely to be on Apec sidelines’ in Detroit
- No formal announcement has been made but could be sign of more senior in-person contacts to come
The meeting between Tai and Wang Wentao would likely occur on the sidelines of a gathering of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation trade ministers on May 25-26, according to the people, who asked not to be identified citing information that is not yet public.
That event was announced last year, and Wang would be expected to attend under normal circumstances.
But senior-level contacts between Washington and Beijing have been largely suspended since the balloon incident, despite US entreaties.
Also, Chinese leaders have only recently begun to travel overseas again as the country emerges from strict controls imposed during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Neither China’s Ministry of Commerce nor state media has announced Wang is headed to the Apec gathering. A USTR spokesman declined to comment on the matter.
