Shanghai: Amid the spiralling situation in the Middle East and Biden’s administration’s latest move to ban Chinese-backed TikTok, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken opened his first full day of meetings in China on Thursday by talking with local government officials in Shanghai. Blinken discussed local and regional issues with Chen Jiang, the Chinese Communist Party secretary of Shanghai. The top US called on China to provide a level playing field for American businesses as he began a visit aimed at resolving a raft of contentious issues that could jeopardise the newly repaired relationship.
State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said that at a meeting with China’s top official in Shanghai, Chen Jining, Blinken raised concerns about China’s “trade policies and non-market economic practices.” Blinken also “stressed that the United States seeks a healthy economic competition with the PRC and a level playing field for U.S. workers and firms operating in China.”
