Chinese Vice President Zheng Han met billionaire Elon Musk and other US business figures, underscoring Beijing's efforts to set a positive tone in ties with the US before Donald Trump returned to office.
Chinese Vice President Zheng Han met billionaire Elon Musk and other US business figures, underscoring Beijing's efforts to set a positive tone in ties with the US before Donald Trump returned to office.
Han's engagement with US business leaders
Han said US firms were welcome in China during the sitdown in Washington on January 19 with Musk, Tesla's CEO and a member of the incoming administration. Han urged "American companies including Tesla to seize the opportunity, share the fruits of China's development, and make new and greater contributions to promoting China-US economic and trade relations," according to the official Xinhua News Agency.
Han also met people from the US-China Business Council, the US Chamber of Commerce, and "other business circles in Washington," Xinhua reported on January 20. Han, whose position in the Chinese government is ceremonial and does not have a seat on the ruling Communist Party's 24-member Politburo, is in the city for Trump's inauguration.
Trade tensions and diplomatic efforts
China is warily eying the return of Trump, whose first term in office was distinguished by a trade war that upset relations between the world's two largest economies. The fear is those tensions may be repeated given Trump has threatened to slap tariffs on shipments from the Asian country due to its trade practices and other issues. China had a record trade surplus of nearly US$1 trillion last year.
Han also met Vice President JD Vance on January 19 to discuss fentanyl and trade. In that sitdown, Han said that although the two sides have their differences, they have a large space where they can cooperate and should strengthen dialog, China's Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
On January 17, Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping used a phone call to discuss trade, TikTok, and fentanyl. Trump wrote in a post to his Truth Social platform that the "call was a very good one for both China and the US." The state-run China Central Television said that while Xi believed differences with the US were "inevitable," the two countries could work as partners and friends.
Optimism for US-China relations
Han's meeting with the two business groups included senior executives from US firms including FedEx Corp., Broadcom Corp., Las Vegas Sands Corp., and Visa Inc., according to a person who attended the event. The roughly 90-minute gathering was very good but no substantive agreements were reached, added the person, who asked not to be identified discussing the private information.
The meeting was also a way for Han to get to know American businesses and understand their concerns, said the person who attended it.
Neither the US-China Business Council nor the US chamber immediately responded to emails seeking comment. Representatives for the four companies did not immediately answer requests for comment sent during Asia business hours.
Highlighting China's push for its interactions with the Trump administration to start on the right foot, in recent days Chinese state media has published articles expressing optimism. The Xi-Trump call "injected confidence in promoting a smooth transition and a good start in China-US relations," the People's Daily, the ruling party's mouthpiece, said in a column on January 19.
"At a time when China and the US are pursuing their own dreams and are committed to a better life for their people, we need both sides to work together to promote a stable, healthy, and sustainable bilateral relationship," said the newspaper. The column was attributed to the pseudonym Zhong Sheng, which is often used to set out Beijing's foreign policy views.
On January 20, the nationalistic Global Times newspaper said in an editorial that the world is anticipating a "good start" to relations between the two big economic powers.
"Now, before the new term of the US president, there has already been a round of positive exchanges between China and the US," it said. "We look forward to greater progress at this new starting point" in the relationship.