Crucial US, China have stable economic relationship

BEIJING, Aug 28 (Agencies): US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo opened talks with Chinese government officials on Monday saying it is "profoundly important" the world's two largest economies have a stable economic relationship.
Raimondo is looking to boost business ties as US firms have reported increasing challenges with operating in China, while China has sharply criticized US efforts to block China's access to advanced semiconductors.
Raimondo said the entire world expects the United States and China will have a stable economic relationship; the two countries share more than $700 billion in annual trade.
"It's a complicated relationship. It's a challenging relationship. We will of course disagree on certain issues," Raimondo said. "I think we can make progress if we are direct, open and practical."
Raimondo is holding three days of talks with Chinese and business leaders in China to boost business ties between the world's two largest economies. She is scheduled to meet with Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao for about two hours on Monday.
Raimondo's visit-which will last until Wednesday-is the latest in a series of high-level trips to China by US officials in recent months.
The visits could culminate in a meeting between the nations' leaders, with US President Joe Biden saying recently that he was expecting to sit down with China's Xi Jinping this year.
Raimondo met on Monday morning with Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao, who said it was a "great pleasure to conduct dialogue and coordination with you in the field of economy and trade".
She arrived in Beijing on Sunday and was met by Lin Feng, the director of the commerce ministry's Americas and Oceania department, as well as US ambassador to China Nicholas Burns.
In posts on the social media platform X, Raimondo said she was "looking forward to a productive few days".
"I just landed in Beijing for a busy few days of meetings with senior PRC officials and US business leaders," she said, referring to China by the initials for its official name.
The commerce department has said Raimondo hopes for "constructive discussions on issues relating to the US-China commercial relationship, challenges faced by US businesses, and areas for potential cooperation".
She will also travel to China's economic powerhouse Shanghai, Washington said.
Relations between the United States and China have plummeted to some of their worst levels in decades, with Washington's trade curbs near the top of the laundry list of disagreements.
Washington says its restrictions are crucial to safeguarding national security, while Beijing sees them as seeking to curb its economic rise.
This month, Biden issued an executive order aimed at restricting certain American investments in sensitive high-tech areas in China-a move Beijing blasted as being "anti-globalization".