Chinese Vice President Han Zheng on Jan. 19 called on US businesses to help boost trade relations between the rival countries in a meeting with Elon Musk, chief executive of Tesla and a member of Trump’s incoming administration, in Washington.
Why it matters: The meeting came just a day before Donald Trump took office for his second term as President of the United States on Monday at the US Capitol.
- Han, who represented China at Trump’s inauguration, used the visit to also meet with new US Vice President JD Vance, as well as business leaders from US companies such as FedEx and Visa, according to a Bloomberg report.
Details: Han said China “welcomed US companies including Tesla to seize opportunities, share the fruits of China’s development, and make new and greater contributions to closer economic and trade ties between China and the United States,“ Xinhua News Agency reported on Monday.
- Musk, owner of social media platform X, responded by saying Tesla is ready to deepen investment in and cooperation with China, playing a positive role in strengthening US-China trade relations.
- The billionaire complained on his platform X after the meeting about X being banned in China while TikTok is allowed to operate in America, calling it an “unbalanced” situation and adding that “something needs to change.”
Context: As Donald Trump was sworn in as the 47th US president, a global policy shift towards clean energy and electric vehicles is seeing China gain ground in trade.
- Trump on Monday withdrew the US from the Paris climate agreement, doubling down on fossil fuels, and reversing America’s contribution to climate change policy and clean energy governmental promotion.
- His transition team is looking at moves to cut off support for EVs and charging stations, such as eliminating the Biden administration’s $7,500 tax credit for consumer EV purchases, Reuters reported.
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