A senior American lawmaker says the U.S. does not want to cut economic ties with the world’s second-largest economy but seeks a level playing field so that American companies can compete freely
A senior American lawmaker, leading the first congressional trip to China in four years, said Saturday that the U.S. does not want to cut economic ties with the world’s second-largest economy but seeks a level playing field so that American companies can compete freely.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and five other senators arrived in Shanghai earlier in the day on a three-country tour that will also take them to South Korea and Japan. The trip comes amid a sharp deterioration in relations between the U.S. and China and as officials try to lay the groundwork for a possible meeting between Presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping in November.
“We are prepared to compete but we do not seek to conflict,” Schumer told Shanghai’s Communist Party chief shortly after the delegation’s arrival.
The party head, Chen Jining, avoided specific issues in his public remarks, saying that a healthy and stable China-U.S. relationship would benefit the entire world. He noted the presence of 5,640 American companies in Shanghai, and said he is happy to have the opportunity to discuss how to promote trade at the local level.
The U.S. has placed tariff and other trade restrictions on China over national security, human rights and other concerns and blocked access to advanced semiconductors and other key technologies.
