Ex-senior Chinese official urges foreign investors to return, says trade remains ‘ballast’ of US-China ties

Bi Jingquan, a high-ranking Chinese official, has urged foreign investors who have left China to reconsider their decision and re-engage with the country. He emphasized that economic and trade ties serve as the 'ballast', or stabilizing force, in the relationship between the US and China. Despite geopolitical tensions in recent years, trade between the two nations, as well as between China and Europe, has continued to grow. Bi Jingquan stressed the importance of actions that bring happiness to the people of both nations, reinforcing the idea that economic and trade ties are crucial for maintaining a stable China-US relationship.

A potential meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Joe Biden at the upcoming Apec forum could signal a warming of bilateral relations. There has been a noticeable increase in reciprocal high-level visits between Washington and Beijing in recent months, which is seen as a positive development for the future of bilateral economic ties. Bi Jingquan's comments coincided with the visit of Chinese Vice-Premier He Lifeng to the US, further highlighting the ongoing efforts to strengthen the relationship between the two countries.

For the first time, the US sent federal officials to the annual China International Import Expo, a major trade fair in Shanghai. At the event, several American companies, including the US Soybean Export Council and global food corporation Cargill, signed purchase agreements with Chinese state-owned enterprises. These agreements, the first of their kind since 2017, followed the recent signing of 11 purchase agreements worth billions of dollars between a delegation of Chinese commodity importers and top US merchants. US ambassador to China, Nicholas Burns, expressed his country's desire for increased trade with China, emphasizing the importance of agriculture in the US-China relationship. Despite a decrease in two-way trade between the two economic powerhouses this year, the US trade deficit with Beijing has narrowed, largely due to a decrease in exports from China. Bi Jingquan described this dynamic as 'normal', explaining that capital naturally gravitates towards areas with the lowest costs and highest profits.