Beijing officials hope for a “fresh start” in relations with the United States after Donald Trump takes office on Monday, even as China's business outlook remains clouded by worries about another bitter trade war.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning said at a regular press conference on Monday that Beijing was “prepared to properly handle differences with the new U.S. administration.”
When asked about Beijing's expectations for the new U.S. administration, she referred to a “new starting point” in Sino-U.S. relations.
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Mao Zedong's speech — published just hours before Trump’s inauguration — comes at a time when U.S.-China relations are troubled by fierce technology competition and concerns about the future of trade between the world’s two largest economies.
Trump has threatened in the past to impose Tariff exceeds 60% Blame China, saying China owes the United States trillions of dollars.
At the same time, he talked about Friendly with Chinese President Xi Jinping And – for the time being – Avoided U.S. ban The popular Chinese app TikTok.
A series of developments in recent days paint a similarly mixed future for U.S.-China relations.
For example, Trump said on Friday that he had had good discussions with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on a range of issues including trade, fentanyl and TikTok.
“This call was a very good one for both China and the United States. I expect we can solve many problems together and start immediately. We discussed balanced trade, fentanyl, TikTok and many other topics,” Trump said at the wrote a post on its social media platform Truth Social.
“President Xi and I will do everything we can to make the world more peaceful and secure!” Trump wrote.
Later, on Saturday, “Wall Street Journal” reports Trump has told advisers he wants to travel to China after taking office.
Later, at a pre-inauguration rally on Sunday, Trump also vowed to “save” TikTok and push the app to resume its services in the United States.
However, Trump later posted on Truth Social that he “wanted the United States to have 50% ownership in the joint venture with TikTok.”
The proposal has been received Beijing reacts coldlywhich said companies should make “independent decisions” about their operations and trading matters.
Making progress with Trump
Meanwhile, China is continuing to try to make progress with Trump.
Over the weekend, China's top official, Vice President Han Zheng, met with billionaire Trump aide Elon Musk and Vice President-elect Vance, while also holding talks with U.S. businesses.
Han is replacing Xi Jinping in the United States for Trump's inauguration, a goodwill gesture given that China was only represented by an ambassador at the previous two U.S. presidential inaugurations.
The Trump-Vance transition team said in a statement that Vance and Han discussed a range of topics, including fentanyl, balanced trade and regional stability.
At the same time, when meeting with Musk, Han Han told Tesla CEO that he “welcomes Tesla and other American companies to seize the opportunity, share the dividends of China's development, and contribute to the economic and social development of China and the United States.”
Han's meeting with U.S. businesses included heads of eight U.S. companies from a range of industries including technology, banking and logistics, according to a senior person present, who added that the meeting went beyond the allotted time and was very cordial. .
“(Han Zheng) is seen as someone who understands the concerns of the foreign business community and understands the economy because of his experience in Shanghai,” Michael Hart, president of the American Chamber of Commerce in China, told Reuters in Beijing.
“It's a good fig leaf, or whatever you want to call it, so that's a positive.”
Business outlook shrouded in fear
Still, despite the cordial atmosphere, there is still a sense of deja vu for those who remember how quickly U.S.-China relations deteriorated during Trump's first term. The people who remember this trade war most vividly are Chinese companies.
“From now on, and until the situation becomes clearer, all of our U.S. customers are required to pay in advance,” said Dominic Desmarais, chief solutions officer at Lira Solutions, a Suzhou-based company that connects Chinese manufacturers to Contact overseas buyers.
“If Donald Trump does impose 40% or other tariffs on Chinese products coming into the United States, I don't want products that are customized for specific customers to disappear,” he added.
“This happened many times seven or eight years ago when Donald Trump put a 25% tariff on 85% of goods coming from China.”
With the world's second-largest economy now more vulnerable to Trump's tariffs, Chinese companies are becoming more cautious. The country is grappling with growing deflation, an unending housing crisis, huge local government debt and 16% youth unemployment.
“What I see is that due to the impact of the epidemic, China's economy is not very good at the moment, and Trump himself is a crazy, wild person (which does not help things on our side),” said a 36-year-old said a Beijing resident surnamed Wang.
“There's still a lot of pressure[for us].”
- Reuters, with additional editing and input by Vishakha Saxena
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