According to Wang Wentao, China’s commerce minister, the United States and China are collaborating to make the business environment more stable and predictable.

Following the visit of U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo to China in the summer of last year, the two nations have decided to regularly schedule talks at the ministerial level and lower. Earlier this month, Wang and Raimondo spoke over the phone.

At a news conference, Wang stated in Mandarin that this letter “strives to create a good environment for the two countries’ economic and trade cooperation, especially in stabilising business expectations.”

He stated that sanctions “greatly increase” compliance costs and cause business uncertainty, but he did not address US tech limits.

The Biden administration has implemented export restrictions during the past two years that restrict Chinese corporations’ access to purchasing cutting-edge technology, such premium semiconductors, from American enterprises. According to Washington, it’s a means of preserving areas of mutual cooperation but preventing China’s military from obtaining cutting-edge technology.

“We always believe that the common interests of China and the U.S. in economy and trade are far greater than their differences,” Wang said.

Businesses from the United States and other foreign nations have long lamented the difficulties in conducting business in China, including the unfair treatment of international firms in comparison to domestic competitors. International companies have more recently complained that operations are challenging due to Beijing’s ambiguous regulations surrounding data transfer outside the nation.

The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) released new draft regulations in the autumn, stating that if authorities haven’t specified that a data export meets the criteria for being considered “important,” then government approval is not required. Although the action was generally viewed as bettering the situation for foreign companies, no formal policy has yet to follow.

Wang just provided the statement that the “primary ministry is stepping up efforts to release them” in response to a question on data rules on Friday.

He stated that China has taken action on a 24-point plan that was unveiled last summer to assist foreign companies operating in the nation, with “more than 60%” of the measures having been implemented or making progress. Wang added that regular routes for foreign enterprises to provide feedback have been established by the government.

During her visit to China the previous year, Raimondo demanded greater steps to increase predictability for American companies operating in China. She had stated, “Any one of those could be addressed as a way to show action,” in reference to the 24-point plan.

China’s economic growth in 2023 increased by 5.2%, a decrease from the double-digit rate in previous decades. This year, growth is predicted to slow even more.

Wang informed reporters that, due to factors including heightened geopolitical tensions, the state of international trade would be “even more complex and severe” this year.

According to Ministry of Commerce figures, foreign direct investment dropped by 8% to 1.13 trillion yuan ($160 billion) in 2023, the lowest amount in three years. While noting that France and the United Kingdom witnessed the biggest growth in this type of investment last year, it did not indicate how much the United States invested in China.

China has made an effort to increase international investment there.

In a speech earlier this month at the World Economic Forum’s annual summit in Davos, Switzerland, Chinese Premier Li Qiang presented China as an opportunity rather than a risk.

“Davos is littered with CEOs who have stories of intellectual property ripped off, agreements summarily changed, arbitrary legal judgments in favor of local competitors, and more,” Ian Bremmer, founder and president of the Eurasia Group, said in a note Monday.

“But I was also impressed by the breadth of CEOs — across a wide degree of sectors (finance, healthcare, insurance, manufacturing, technology, luxury goods, transition energy and more) who told me stories not just of increased access over the past months, but also new business terms, licenses and partnerships that they were legitimately enthusiastic about,” Bremmer said.

He claimed that, in comparison to last year, “nearly every Fortune 500 CEO with a business in China” that he encountered there had plans to visit China more frequently this year.

“Even at 2-3% growth, a change in political impulse from the world’s second largest economy with large scale industrial infrastructure and a massive consumer base isn’t to be ignored.”

(Adapted from OtherWeb.com)