Republican Sen. Steve Daines, a solid supporter of Donald Trump, met Chinese Prime Minister Li Qiang on Sunday in Beijing.
The meeting marks the first time US politicians have visited China since Trump took office in January. Earlier this month, China's Foreign Ministry promised that China will “fight to the end” with the United States in “a tariff war, trade war, or other war.”
Montana Republican Daines met with a group of seven American executives on Sunday following the annual business summit in China's capital, attended by top foreign CEOs.
Daines was accompanied by Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla, Cargill CEO Brian Sikes, Boeing Global Senior Vice President Brendan Nelson, and other executives from the Great Hall of the People in the foreign media pool.
Daines, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, was heavily involved in negotiations on US-China trade during Trump's first term, and made multiple trips to China as a senator. He lived in Guangzhou and Hong Kong in the 1990s and worked as an executive at Procter & Gamble.
Beijing is trying to attract foreign investment to offset US tariff pressure and slowing the domestic economy.
China-US relations are under new tensions after Trump slapped additional tariffs on Chinese goods and accused Beijing of not enough to halt fentanyl's flow to the US.
In early April, Trump is expected to unlock tariffs in all countries that potentially tax imports, including China. The US review of whether China has fulfilled its promises made in a “Phase 1” trade deal from Trump's first administration is expected to close on April 1. “We're currently at a critical time for relations between the US and China,” Li told Daines at the meeting, emphasizing the need to choose a dialogue around a dialogue.
“Both of us need to choose a dialogue about cooperation that is beneficial to both sides over conflict, zero-sum competition,” Li said.
US executives have been given an audience to Li Qiang, who has not met separately from other foreign CEOs of the China Development Forum for the second year in a row.
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Annual closure meetings with the Prime Minister were traditionally considered the highlight of a summit by foreign CEOs.
Other Chinese officials attending the meeting between Daines and US executives included Commerce Minister Wangchuan, Deputy Minister Masa Majaks and Director of Chinese state planner Zheng Shanjie.
Daines met his vice-president, Lifeng, in Beijing on Saturday. He argued that China needed to stop the flow of fentanyl precursors and that it “expressed hope that even higher levels of consultations between the US and China will take place in the near future,” according to a post published on social media platform X.
