Chinese president’s envoy meets Vance and Musk on eve of Trump inauguration

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — China’s vice president met with the U.S. vice president-elect and U.S. business leaders, including Elon Musk, in Washington on the eve of Donald Trump’s inauguration, as the two major Powers are tackling lingering tensions over trade and technology. .

Han Zheng, who is Chinese President Xi Jinping’s envoy at the inauguration, “discussed a range of topics, including fentanyl, trade balance and regional stability” with JD Vance, according to the transition team Trump.

Han highlighted the “broad common interests and enormous space for cooperation” that the United States and China share in economic and trade relations despite “some disagreements and frictions,” according to a report of his meeting with Vance released Monday by the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Trump has threatened to impose customs duties and other measures against China during his second term, while hinting at ways in which the two rival powers could cooperate on issues such as regional conflicts and limiting exports of substances used in the production of fentanyl .

In an unorthodox move, Trump last month guest Xi at his inauguration. No head of state has yet made an official visit to the United States for the inauguration, according to State Department historical records.

Although Xi will not personally attend the event, he and Trump had a phone call Friday in which they discussed commerce, fentanyl and TikTok. The Chinese social media app reinstated its services for users in the United States on Sunday, just hours after it disappeared in response to a federal banwhich Trump said he would suspend by executive order on Monday.

China’s Foreign Ministry on Monday praised TikTok’s role in promoting employment in the United States.

“We hope that the United States will listen to rational voices and provide an open, fair, just and non-discriminatory business environment for market entities of all countries operating in the United States,” said ministry spokesperson Mao Ning.

Han also met with Musk and other senior U.S. business executives, including representatives of the U.S.-China Business Council and the American Chamber of Commerce in Washington, D.C., according to China’s Foreign Ministry.

The Chinese vice president reiterated his promises of an improved business environment for foreign companies in China and expressed hope that American companies will continue to increase their investments in the country.

Musk, whose company Tesla operates a factory in Shanghai, posted on his X platform after the meeting that he had long opposed the ban on TikTok “because it goes against the freedom of expression “.

“That said, the current situation, in which TikTok is allowed to operate in America, but X is not allowed to operate in China, is unbalanced,” he wrote. “Something has to change.”

X is banned in China, alongside other major social media and US apps and websites, including YouTube, Google, Facebook and many major US media outlets.

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Associated Press video producer Liu Zheng in Beijing contributed to this report.