(Beijing) US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo met with her Chinese counterpart Wang Wentao in Beijing on Monday and said it was “extremely important” that the United States and China have stable and peaceful trade relations.

The two leading economic powers in the world have been trying for several months to ease their bilateral tensions.

Gina Raimondo is the fourth senior American politician to visit China this year, a sign of a resumption of high-level dialogue between the two countries.

These visits could facilitate a meeting between US President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, the tenant of the White House having publicly expressed his wish for such a meeting.

Gina Raimondo met with Wang Wentao on Monday and deemed the economic relations between the two countries to be the “most important in the world”.

“We share $700 billion in trade […] it is extremely important that we have stable economic relations,” she told her interlocutor, according to a report from her line ministry.

“It’s a complicated relationship, a difficult relationship,” she said. “We will of course disagree on some issues, but I think we can move forward if we are direct, open and pragmatic. »

The two countries agreed to set up a task force to “seek solutions on trade and investment issues and advance U.S. commercial interests in China,” according to the U.S. Department of Commerce.

This group “will meet twice a year at the vice-ministerial level” and its first meeting is scheduled “early 2024” in the United States, he added.

Gina Raimondo and Wang Wentao exchanged face to face, surrounded by their respective delegations, at long tables, according to images from Chinese public television CCTV. Chinese and American flags were raised in front of them.

Wang Wentao told his American counterpart of his “great pleasure to start this dialogue” with her to “coordinate in economic and commercial matters”.

Arrived in Beijing on Sunday evening, Gina Raimondo was welcomed by Lin Feng, director of the America and Oceania department of the Chinese Ministry of Commerce.

On Monday, she also visited an exhibition of American beauty products for the Chinese market in a hotel in the Chinese capital, accompanied by the United States Ambassador to China, Nicholas Burns.

During her visit to China, which is scheduled to last until Wednesday, she will also visit Shanghai, according to the US Department of Commerce.

Tensions between the two countries have escalated in recent years over a myriad of topics, including trade, technology, US military support for Taiwan, Beijing’s presence in the South China Sea and its relationship with Moscow.

Among the main disagreements are the trade restrictions imposed by the United States on the export of certain American products, in particular high technology, to China.

Washington considers them crucial to preserve its national security. But Beijing believes they are primarily aimed at curbing China’s economic rise and development.

During a visit to Beijing last month, Janet Yellen, the US Treasury Secretary, tried to reassure Chinese authorities about the multiple US restrictions.

Gina Raimondo told Chinese officials on Monday that there was “no leeway to compromise or negotiate” on US national security.

But “the vast majority of our trade and investment relationship is not about national security issues,” she also stressed.

“We think a strong Chinese economy is a good thing,” she said.

US climate envoy John Kerry visited China in July.

As for the head of American diplomacy, Antony Blinken, he had visited Beijing the previous month. It was the highest-level visit by a US official since 2018.

None of these visits, however, led to major progress.