On the sidelines of a meeting this Wednesday between American President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, the two countries committed to holding new trade discussions in 2024. An announcement which comes as the world’s two largest economies are engaged in fierce commercial and geopolitical rivalry.
The United States and China are committed to further trade talks next year, the US Commerce Department said on Friday, despite tensions between the two major powers. The announcement comes after President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping met Wednesday on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit in San Francisco.
“Protecting national security is non-negotiable
US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo held parallel discussions with her counterpart Wang Wentao on Thursday. “During the meeting, the two officials reviewed the progress of the working group on trade issues and agreed to meet again face-to-face in early 2024,” the Commerce Department said in a statement. The two sides will also have technical discussions in January on the protection of trade secrets.
The world’s two largest economies are engaged in a fierce commercial and geopolitical rivalry. The United States is working in particular to prevent China from accessing cutting-edge technologies, citing a question of national security, to the great displeasure of China which considers that this harms its “legitimate interests”.
Gina Raimondo went to Beijing last August, as part of a resumption of dialogue between Washington and Beijing, culminating with the Biden-Xi summit on Wednesday. Gina Raimondo “also insisted that protecting national security was non-negotiable,” the Commerce Department added, assuring that export controls were not designed to prevent economic growth from China.