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US-China relations
ChinaDiplomacy

US-China trade war: officials to take another run at restarting trade talks, easing tensions

  • Commerce Minister Wang Wentao will hold meeting with top American trade officials in the US this week
  • The meetings will be another attempt by the world’s top two economies to re-engage amid frosty bilateral ties

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Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao is attending the Apec trade ministers meeting in Detroit on Thursday and Friday. Photo: Reuters
Liu ZhenandMia Nulimaimaiti

China’s commerce minister will use a visit to the United States this week to try to restart trade talks with his American counterparts, Beijing confirmed on Thursday.

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Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao, who is attending the Apec trade ministers meeting in Detroit on Thursday and Friday, will hold meetings with US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo and Trade Representative Katherine Tai, ministry spokeswoman Shu Jueting said.

“The Chinese side will communicate with the US side on China-US economic and trade relations and issues of common concern to both sides,” she told a press conference in Beijing, without elaborating.

It would be Wang’s first face-to-face meeting with Raimondo since the latter took office in 2021. Wang last met Tai in Thailand in November at another Apec meeting.

The meetings will be another attempt by the world’s top two economies to re-engage after repeated stalemates as bilateral ties soured in recent years.
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The talks are expected to focus on trade issues after presidents Xi Jinping and Joe Biden agreed in Bali last November to improve communications on a wide range of issues including trade, according to Lu Xiang, an expert on US-China relations at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

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