Minister Wang Wentao meets with U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai.

On March 26th, during the 14th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization in Yaound, Cameroon, Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao met with United States Trade Representative Katherine Tai. The two sides exchanged in-depth views on China-US economic and trade relations, as well as multilateral and regional economic and trade cooperation. Ambassador Li Yong attended the meeting as part of the Chinese delegation to the WTO. Wang Wentao stated that President Xi Jinping has pointed out that economic and trade should continue to be the ballast and propeller of China-US relations, rather than stumbling blocks and points of conflict. The two sides should jointly implement the important consensus reached by the two countries' leaders in the Busan meeting and previous phone calls, properly handle the relationship between competition and cooperation, past and future, strengthen mutually beneficial cooperation, avoid malicious competition, maintain close communication, look forward together, and promote the healthy, stable, and sustainable development of bilateral economic and trade relations. Wang Wentao emphasized that China is willing to strengthen multilateral and regional economic and trade cooperation with the United States, jointly promote the reform of the WTO, achieve practical results at the 14th Ministerial Conference of the WTO, and support the positive outcomes of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation and Group of Twenty meetings. Wang Wentao also expressed serious concerns about the US-initiated 301 investigations against multiple economies, including China, under the pretext of "overcapacity" and "forced labor products not banned from import". Katherine Tai stated that in the past year, the United States and China have conducted constructive economic and trade negotiations, maintaining close communication and cooperation. The US is willing to work with China, guided by the consensus of the two countries' leaders, strengthen dialogue, promote the sustained stability of US-China economic and trade relations, and achieve mutually beneficial cooperation in the economic and trade fields. The US is also willing to enhance communication and exchange with China within the frameworks of the WTO and regional organizations.