The US-China Business Council, a private, nonpartisan, nonprofit organization of 270 American companies that do business in China, today issued the following statement on Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo’s trip to China this week:

The US-China Business Council commends Secretary Raimondo on a productive trip—building on other recent visits by Biden administration officials—and agrees that we can and should have robust trade with China while protecting national security.

The United States benefits tremendously from commerce with China, the vast majority of which does not implicate national security. We applaud Secretary Raimondo’s efforts to help US businesses, workers, and the overall economy, including by creating consultation mechanisms to advance US commercial and strategic interests. There is more work to be done in other areas, such as market access and protecting intellectual property in China, and USCBC will continue to support these efforts.

We hope this trip continues to strengthen the likelihood for a meeting between presidents Biden and Xi later this year. A productive meeting between the two could help improve the US-China relationship, support economic growth, and address shared global concerns, like climate change and public health.