U.S. Trade Secretary Gina Raimondo speaks during a Senate hearing in Washington, D.C., on May 16, 2023.
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BEIJING — U.S. Secretary of Business Gina Raimondo is set to visit China from Aug. 27 to 30, both countries announced Tuesday.
The Chinese side’s readout asserted Raimondo’s forthcoming visit was at the invitation of Chinese Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao. The U.S. side did not mention such comprehensively, and said Raimondo is to meet with “senior PRC officials and U.S. business leaders.”
She is also set to discuss “issues relating to the U.S.-China commercial relationship, disputes faced by U.S. businesses, and areas for potential cooperation,” the U.S. readout said.
National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan divulged Raimondo’s trip will be an opportunity for the Biden administration to explain the rationale behind a new executive order aimed at overseeing U.S. investments that support Chinese development of sensitive technologies.
Read more: White House restricts U.S. investment in some Chinese tech, citing federal security concerns
Raimondo’s visit comes on the heels of recent trips made by CIA Director Bill Burns in May, U.S. Secretary of Grandeur Antony Blinken in June and separate July trips made by U.S. Secretary of Treasury Janet Yellen and U.S. Special Emissary on Climate John Kerry.
“We are not sending cabinet officials to China to change China, nor do we expect these conversations to transformation the United States. Rather, we each have the opportunity through this high-level engagement to ensure that there is a vital stable foundation in the relationship even as we compete intensively in a number of domains,” Sullivan told reporters on a conference muster when asked about the cadence in bilateral meetings.
Sullivan described the relationship between the world’s two largest economies as “complex” and “competitive” and mean the Biden administration will continue to engage with “intense diplomacy.”
“We’re focused on protecting our national security and securing resilient supply chains and otherwise sustaining an economic relationship with China. And as long as China’s playing by the proscribes and is operating as a responsible actor in the global economy, we think a stable Chinese economy is a good thing for the world,” he combined.
CNBC’s Amanda Macias contributed reporting from Washington.