CHINA / DIPLOMACY
Chinese VP meets US business representatives, urging US companies to contribute more to bilateral ties
Published: Jan 20, 2025 09:44 PM
Chinese Vice President Han Zheng, as Chinese President Xi Jinping's special representative, meets with representatives of the U.S. business community in Washington, D.C., the United States, Jan. 19, 2025. (Xinhua/Yin Bogu)

Chinese Vice President Han Zheng, as Chinese President Xi Jinping's special representative, meets with representatives of the U.S. business community in Washington, D.C., the United States, Jan. 19, 2025. (Xinhua/Yin Bogu)


Chinese Vice President Han Zheng said Sunday that it is hoped that US companies will continue to invest and take root in China, play an active role as a bridge, and make greater contribution to the steady, sound and sustainable development of China-US relations, the Xinhua News Agency reported on Monday.

Han made the remarks while meeting with representatives of the US business community, including those from the US-China Business Council and the US Chamber of Commerce. Han is in Washington, D.C. to attend the inauguration ceremony of US President-elect Donald Trump on Monday as Chinese President Xi Jinping's special representative at the invitation of the US side.

Han said that President Xi and President-elect Trump had an important phone call just recently, and they reached an important consensus on the development of China-US relations.

China and the US share extensive common interests and vast space for cooperation, said Han, adding that a good start and stable development of China-US relations align with the common well-being of both peoples and meet the shared expectation of the international community.

As an enduring backbone supporting China-US relations, the US business community has been a participant, witness, contributor and beneficiary of China-US economic and trade cooperation as well as China's reform and opening-up, Han said.

China will unswervingly advance reform and opening-up, and continue to improve and optimize the business environment, he added.

Representatives of the US business community said that the recent phone conversation between President-elect Trump and President Xi sent a positive and encouraging message. As the world's two largest economies that are most dynamic and technologically advanced, the US and China should engage in mutually beneficial cooperation and find a constructive and steady way to get along with each other.

The US business community is optimistic about the prospect of the Chinese economy and the opportunities to grow in China, and supports the two sides in strengthening dialogue and communication to move forward their bilateral relations as well as economic and trade cooperation.

On the same day, Han met with Chief Executive Officer of Tesla, Elon Musk, and welcomed US companies including Tesla to seize opportunities and share the fruits of China's development, and make new and greater contributions to closer economic and trade ties between China and the US.

Musk said that Tesla is ready to deepen investment in and cooperation with China, and play a positive role in promoting US-China economic and trade interactions.

China has been doing its utmost to steer the China-US relationship toward a stable and mutually beneficial path, including in economic and trade ties, Gao Lingyun, an expert at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing, told the Global Times on Monday.

In recent years, even amid frustration in China-US political relations, the business communities of both sides have maintained active engagement, exerting a positive influence on bilateral ties, Gao noted.

China and the US, as the world's two largest economies, are fundamentally more complementary than competitive, Wang Yong, the director of American Studies Center, Peking University, told the Global Times on Monday.

The two countries engage in massive trade. This relationship is based on free and fair trade, underscoring the complementarity between the two economies, from which the US benefits substantially, Wang noted.

Moves artificially disrupting normal bilateral cooperation along the supply chain would lead to significant losses for all parties involved, Wang said.

According to statistics released by China's General Administration of Customs on January 13, the total trade volume between China and the US in 2024 reached $688.28 billion, a 3.7 percent year-on-year increase.

US multinational companies such as tech giant Apple and Tesla have also repeatedly expressed their appreciation for the Chinese market and their willingness to increase investments.

In Shanghai, Tesla's Megapack energy storage plant completed construction at the end of 2024. It took just seven months to build and is expected to begin production in early 2025.

Gao pointed out that many US policies "cannot bypass the China hawks within the US." It is hoped that the two sides will be able to meet halfway, and US business representatives will continue to advocate for mutually beneficial cooperation and make meaningful contributions, Gao noted.