SECRETARY BLINKEN: Well, it’s wonderful to be here. Thank – first of all, thanks to each of you for taking the time. I wanted to make sure, being here in Shanghai – the hub of so much economic activity and also a real hub of connection between the United States and China when it comes to business, when it comes to trade – that I had a chance to hear directly from you who are engaged in this market, engaged in this relationship, because it’s so extraordinarily consequential.
And one of the things that President Biden and President Xi agreed when they met in San Francisco was that we have to – we need to find ways to put as much stability as possible into the relationships to make sure that we’re managing the relationship responsibly, which we’re committed to doing. And a big part of that is making sure that the economic relationship is working in the ways that it should work to mutual benefit. And so it’s important that we hear what’s working, what’s not, and also to be able to reflect any concerns that you have in our own engagements with (inaudible) the government, where obviously decisions are made that have a huge impact on the way they’re able to do business.
We have, as you know, a relationship that has us as the largest market for products that are made in China. That remains the case. We’re the third – China’s our third largest trading partner after our two near neighbors Canada and Mexico, and of course foreign direct investment here, including American investment, is among the leading investors of any country (inaudible).
So we want to make sure that we are effectively looking out for the interests of our own community, and the best way to do that is to start by actually hearing from that community. So that’s what I wanted to do today. Thanks.
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Source: U.S. Department of State
Speaker: Antony J. Blinken, U.S. Secretary of State
Format: Public Remarks
China Policy Research 