U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo Delivers Remarks Ahead of Bilateral Meeting with PRC Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao

U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo Delivers Remarks Ahead of Bilateral Meeting with PRC Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao
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Mon, 08/28/2023 – 09:13

Export and investment promotion
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Monday, August 28, 2023

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Gina M. Raimondo

U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina M. Raimondo U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina M. Raimondo delivered the following remarks ahead of her bilateral meeting with the People’s Republic of China (PRC) Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao

“Good morning, thank you, Minister Wang. It’s great for me to be here with you in Beijing and to work with you and to see you again. I want to thank you, your team has been wonderful in preparing for this visit and I am pleased to have this opportunity to talk to you honestly and directly about our relationship and the work we can do together.  

“As you know, our teams have been working closely over the summer to establish new information exchanges and working groups that will enable us to have more consistent engagement in our relationship.

“The economic relationship between the U.S. and China is one of the most significant in the world. We share $700 billion dollars of trade and I concur with you that it is profoundly important that we have a stable economic relationship which is to the benefit of both of our countries and in fact what the world expects of us.

“It’s a complicated relationship; it’s a challenging relationship. We will of course disagree on certain issues, but I believe we can make progress if we are direct, open, and practical. 

“Of course in matters of national security, there is no room to compromise or negotiate. And as you say, the vast majority of our trade and investment relationship does not involve national security concerns and in this regard, we are committed to promoting trade and investment in those areas that are in our mutual best interest.

“Under President Biden’s leadership, the United States now is undertaking a period of historic investment in our infrastructure, in our people, in our manufacturing, and in our supply chain. And as a result, we have a very strong economy. And I want to be clear, that investment is core to his strategy and it will continue. It’s intended to reduce risk in our supply chain, it is intended to strengthening our country and our infrastructure and create jobs.

“However, it is not intended to hinder China’s economic progress. We believe a strong Chinese economy is a good thing. And President Biden has been crystal clear repeatedly on this point; we seek healthy competition with China. A growing Chinese economy that plays by the rules is in both of our interests. That said, we have to make sure there is a level playing field and we will at all times do what we need to do to protect our workers.

“Like you, I am a former Governor, I am a practical leader, I’ve come here in the spirit of being practical and finding concrete ways to work together with you. And I see a wealth of opportunity for our two countries to work together to address our mutual interests, including climate change, health care, and people-to-people ties. Thank you.”

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Gina M. Raimondo

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Secretary Gina Raimondo

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