Chinese Premier Li Qiang called for enhanced economic and trade cooperation between the world's two largest economies as he met Tuesday with U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo in Beijing, Chinese state-run media said.
The secretary told the premier that the United States does not seek to decouple from the Chinese economy and hopes to maintain normal economic relations, according to China Central Television.
The meeting came amid bilateral tensions over trade issues, including tit-for-tat export control measures on items related to semiconductors.
Li said politicizing economic and trade issues and overstretching the concept of security would not only harm the two countries relations and their business interests, but would have "a disastrous impact" on the global economy, the official Xinhua News Agency said.
Raimondo also held talks Tuesday with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng, who is in charge of trade negotiations with the United States, and Culture and Tourism Minister Hu Hepin.
Her visit follows a recent series of trips by senior U.S. officials to China as Washington and Beijing explore a potential summit between U.S. President Joe Biden and his counterpart Xi Jinping later this year.
On Monday, Raimondo agreed with her Chinese counterpart Wang Wentao on the launch of a platform to exchange information on export control enforcement, with semiconductors and advanced technology such as artificial intelligence expected to be covered.
