Separately, a spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of
Commerce (MOFCOM) blasted the direct interference of the US in a Dutch
company's exports of photolithography machines to China, vowing that China
would take necessary measures to protect firms' legal rights and interests.
The phone call between the Chinese and US commerce chiefs on
Thursday was the first this year, after several rounds of talks in 2023 during
which both sides sought to stabilize bilateral economic and trade ties.
While the phone call sends another positive signal of
continued engagement between Chinese and US trade officials, its effect on
improving ties depends on whether the US turns words into action, Chinese
experts said.
In a statement on Thursday, the MOFCOM said that Wang and
Raimondo had "in-depth and pragmatic" communication on economic and
trade issues of concern to each side, with a focus on implementing the
important consensus reached by the two heads of state at their meeting in San
Francisco.
Notably, the statement said that Wang focused on expressing
serious concerns on issues such as US restrictions on third-party exports of
photolithography machines to China, investigations into the supply chain of
mature process chips, and sanctions that suppress Chinese companies.
"China and the US have made some progress in improving
economic and trade relations," Gao Lingyun, a China-US trade expert at the
Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said on Thursday.
However, Gao noted that the US, while seeking to stabilize
economic and trade ties with China, has also imposed new restrictions and
crackdowns on Chinese firms, and China has serious concerns about US attempts
to restrict exports of chipmaking machines from the Netherlands, Japan and
South Korea to China.
"For the US to address China's concerns, the key lies
in how the US sets its boundaries of national security in the chip
industry," Gao said. "But the Chinese side will reasonably fight for
what it considers its development rights."
During the phone call, the commerce chiefs also discussed
issues regarding the boundary of national security in economic and trade
fields, according to the MOFCOM.
Also on Thursday, at a regular press briefing, Shu Jueting,
a spokesperson for the MOFCOM, expressed firm opposition to US
"weaponization of export controls" and "flagrant
interference" in normal trade among companies of other countries.
Shu urged the Netherlands to respect the spirit of the
contract, support enterprises in conducting compliant trade, and maintain a
free, open, fair and non-discriminatory international trade environment. She
vowed that China will closely monitor the situation and take "necessary
measures" to resolutely safeguard Chinese firms' legal rights and
interests.
Earlier this month, Netherlands-based chip machine maker
ASML said that the Dutch government had revoked an export license covering the
shipment of some of its equipment to China, Reuters reported.
Experts said that for China-US trade ties to improve,
Washington must take Beijing's concerns seriously and try to address them.
"The gradual improvement of China-US economic and trade
relations requires the efforts of both sides," He Weiwen, senior fellow at
the Center for China and Globalization, said on Thursday.
"It's not helpful if the US says one thing during
meetings and phone calls and does another thing."
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