U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo is set to visit China next week, making her the latest high-level Biden administration official to stop down in the country in recent months amid increasingly tense relations between the countries.
Raimondo will make stops in Beijing and Shanghai from Aug. 27-30 ,where she will meet with Chinese officials and U.S. business leaders, the U.S. Department of Commerce said in a press release on Tuesday.
China’s Ministry of Commerce said the visit came at the invitation of Minister Wang Wentao, but gave no other details.
Raimondo’s visit is scheduled just weeks after President Joe Biden announced an executive order banning or restricting U.S. investment in Chinese technology sectors, covering advanced computer chips, micro electronics, quantum information technologies and artificial intelligence.
Senior administration officials emphasized the move was based more on national security than economic interests. It seeks to blunt China’s ability to use U.S. investments to upgrade its military capabilities.
But it comes amid intensifying competition between the world’s two largest economies.
Chinese officials have accused the U.S. of trying to stifle China’s development – something the U.S. has forcefully pushed back on, arguing it is pursuing competition while ensuring it doesn’t boil over into conflict. Despite recent tensions, China remains America’s third-largest trading partner.
“One of the things that Secretary Raimondo will reinforce when she's there is something we've been saying all along: Contrary to claims by some voices in China that we are seeking to slow down China's economy or weaken China's economic growth, that's just not the case,” National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told reporters on Tuesday.
The two countries have been at odds over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, human rights and Taiwan. Tensions escalated this year when the U.S. shot down a Chinese surveillance balloon flying over U.S. airspace and news of a Chinese spy base in Cuba became public.
Recently, Biden has offered some of his sharpest words on China and Chinese President Xi Jinping to date. In June, the U.S. president referred to Xi as a “dictator” and earlier this month, he called China’s economy a “ticking time bomb.” Both comments came at fundraising events, one in California and the other in Utah.
Experts say China is facing concerning signs when it comes to its economy. Data on retail sales, industrial output and investment for the month of July did not meet expectations.
A survey in June found unemployment among urban workers aged 16 to 24 spiked to a record 21.3%. The statistics bureau said this month it would withhold updates while it refined its measurement.
Biden administration officials have repeatedly emphasized the U.S. is seeking to “de-risk” from the Chinese economy, not “decouple.”
“Secretary Raimondo will carry with her the message that the United States is not seeking to decouple from China, but rather to de-risk, and that means protecting our national security and ensuring resilient supply chains alongside our allies and partners while we continue our economic relationship and our trade relationship,” Sullivan told reporters.
“They're trying to distinguish between basic consumer goods and things that have more of a national security implication,” Bruce Dickson, a professor of political science and international affairs at George Washington University who focuses on political dynamics in China said.
Raimondo’s visit follows several high profile stops from other U.S. officials this summer.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and U.S. climate envoy John Kerry visited China last month.
In a closely-watched visit in June, Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Xi and other senior Chinese officials. But America’s top diplomat left Beijing without the Biden administration’s biggest ask: better communications between their militaries.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.