Are US-China ties warming as ambassador Nicholas Burns sits down with commerce minister Wang Wentao?

Commerce minister Wang Wentao is the latest high-ranking Chinese official to meet with ambassador Nicholas Burns on his China trip

Series of meetings this week represent highest-level public engagements between US and China since relations soured in February over a suspected spy balloon

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The US’ ambassador to China, Nicholas Burns, walks along Nanjing’s 600-year-old Ming Dynasty wall with Zhou Yuan, director of the wall’s Protection Management Centre Research Department. Photo: Twitter@USAmbChina

Published: 8:06pm, 11 May 2023

China’s commerce minister sat down with Washington’s ambassador to the country on Thursday to discuss trade and economic issues, both sides said, signalling a possible thawing in relations between the two powers after a prolonged and deepening chill.

The meeting between Wang Wentao and Nicholas Burns was initiated at Washington’s request, according to a statement by the commerce ministry.

The face-to-face chat came after Monday’s meeting between Burns and foreign minister Qin Gang – the highest-level engagement between US and Chinese officials since relations soured in February after a suspected Chinese spy balloon over the US prompted Secretary of State Antony Blinken to call off a planned visit to Beijing.

After the meeting, Burns tweeted that he was “pleased” to meet with Wang.

“We had an open and detailed discussion about the bilateral trade relationship between the US and China,” he added. “I stressed the need for fair and equitable treatment of American businesses in China.”

On Wednesday, Burns posted on Twitter that he had met with the governor of Jiangsu province, Xu Kunlin, to discuss the challenges and opportunities for trade between Jiangsu and the US.

“I advocated for a level playing field for US business and expressed our goal of increasing the number of US students in China,” Burns tweeted.