China’s number two leader asked for the “dialogue” with Washington on Sunday, during a meeting in Beijing attended by leading business executives from the United States and a key ally of the Congress of President Donald Trump.
The relations between the two largest economies in the world have collapsed in recent weeks, since the general tariffs imposed by Trump threaten China’s commercial perspectives.
The comments of Prime Minister Li Qiang occurred during a meeting with Trump Steve Daines, a Republican Senator from Montana.
His visit has been seen as an attempt to relieve tense relations, with the eye of establishing a summit between Trump and Chinese president Xi Jinping.
“Our two parts need to choose the dialogue on confrontation, the cooperation to win about the competition of zero sum,” Li to Daines told.
The CEO of the main companies, including Fedex, Pfizer and Qualcomm, were also present.
Li said he hoped that Washington “will work together with China to promote stable, healthy and sustainable development” of relationships.
Previously on Sunday, Li told the China Development Forum that Beijing would seek economic globalization despite “fragmentation”, a little veiled reference to commercial agitation caused by Trump.
‘Rough waters’
Chinese leaders have been trying to direct an unstable economy to a more stable path since the end of the pandemic, particularly by increasing consumption.
They seek to position the country as a defender of the multilateral economic system, since Trump leaves the wars with the main US business partners, including China, Canada and Mexico.
“China will remain firmly on the correct side of history, that of equity and justice, and will act fairly in the middle of the rough waters of the times,” Li said in the annual forum, attended by business leaders, including Apple’s CEO, Tim Cook.
Beijing “will adhere to the correct direction of economic globalization, will practice true multilateralism and strive to be a force for stability and certainty,” Li said.
In an apparent reference to renewed commercial wars caused by Trump, Li said that “global economic fragmentation intensifies” and that “instability and uncertainty are increasing.”
‘Sincere dialogue’
The conversations were also expected to discuss the flow of the deadly drug and its precursor chemicals from China to the United States.
Trump says that his new tariffs on China are due to Beijing’s failure to stop the shipments of chemicals, which support a devastating drug crisis.
Beijing insists that he has already taken energetic measures against illicit production and drug trade, describing the problem as one for Washington to solve.
Daines on Saturday also met with Vice President He Lifeng, an advisor close to President Xi Jinping in economic matters.
During his meeting with Daines, he said that China “firmly opposes politicization, weapons and instrumentalization of economic and commercial problems.”
The vice president added that China was willing to “participate in a sincere dialogue” with the United States, saying that they had “many common interests and a wide space for cooperation.”
Tariffs imposed by Trump amount to a 20 percent general walk on Chinese shipments abroad to the United States.
China exports reached record heights last year, but observers warn that turbulence in the world commercial system could soon force Beijing to find other ways to increase the activity.
Beijing says that he goes to a growth this year of around five PC, the same as last year and a goal considered ambitious by many economists.
