Evelyn Cheng
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Secretary of State Antony Blinken underscored the importance of the economic aspects of the bilateral U.S.-China relationship during his high-stakes trip to Beijing earlier this week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a press conference Monday that wrapped up his visit, Blinken noted record high trade between the two countries, and said the U.S. is \u201cprepared to cooperate with China\u201d in \u201cmacroeconomic stability,\u201d among other areas of mutual interest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Earlier that day, he met with U.S. businesses in China working in health care, automotive and entertainment, the State Department said. The head of U.S. foreign policy meeting with businesses can\u2019t be considered a given on trips of this nature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI know particularly when Blinken was [scheduled to be] coming before in February, we lobbied and we were told there was no time for the business community,\u201d Michael Hart, president of the American Chamber of Commerce in China, told CNBC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hart said he didn\u2019t know what may have changed since then, but noted similar attention to business when German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock visited Beijing in April.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThat would suggest the politicians do very much understand the economic linkages and the importance for political stability between those two economies,\u201d Hart said. \u201cIt\u2019s significant.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The German Chamber of Commerce in China said that during her Beijing trip, Baerbock visited German company Flender, a gearbox manufacturer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Chairman Colm Rafferty and Vice Chair Roberta Lipson attended the meeting with Blinken on behalf of AmCham China. The U.S. Department of State referred CNBC to Blinken\u2019s press conference Monday when asked about AmCham China\u2019s comment about failing to get a meeting with the secretary during his planned February trip.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Blinken met Chinese President Xi Jinping Monday as part of his trip to Beijing, the first visit by a U.S. secretary of State since 2018.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gabriel Wildau, managing director at consulting firm Teneo, said the most important economic takeaway from Blinken\u2019s trip was that it happened, especially the meeting with Xi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe big fear for investors has been that bilateral relations are on an unstoppable downward spiral,\u201d he said. \u201cJust by signaling that relations may stop getting worse, the two sides can reduce pressure on companies to explore options for decoupling.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Blinken also met with Director of the Chinese Communist Party\u2019s Central Foreign Affairs Office Wang Yi, and State Councilor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
U.S.-China tensions escalated under the Trump administration. It had focused on using tariffs and sanctions in an attempt to address long-standing complaints about the inability for U.S. companies to access the Chinese market in the same way as local firms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Blinken told reporters at Monday\u2019s press conference that he heard about the problems for U.S. companies in China, and the companies\u2019 desire to grow their local business. He described doing business in China as being in the best interests of the U.S.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Regulatory challenges aside, a more pressing issue for businesses is slower economic growth in China and the U.S. in the last few months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The U.S. Federal Reserve has aggressively hiked interest rates in a bid to stem inflation domestically. China\u2019s central bank this month started trimming major interest rates to support growth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Treasury Secretary Yellen is among the U.S. officials expected to visit Beijing in the near future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Global macroeconomic stability is one of the items the two countries should work together on, U.S. President Joe Biden said at his meeting with Xi in November, according to a readout.<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n On Monday, Blinken listed out similar areas of potential cooperation, including climate and the economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He said the growth of major economies such as China is in the U.S. interest and described the economic relationship as \u201cvitally important.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBut at the same time, as I said, it\u2019s not in our interest to provide technology to China that could be used against us,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The Biden administration has used sanctions and export controls to restrict the ability of U.S. businesses to work with Chinese partners on advanced technology such as high-end semiconductors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/a>Taiwan economics<\/h2>\n\n\n\n