A delegation of U.S. lawmakers led by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer arrived in China on Saturday in the first congressional visit to the country since 2019.
The trip comes amid a sharp deterioration in relations between the two countries and as Chinese and U.S. officials try to lay the groundwork for a possible meeting between Presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping in November.
The delegation of six senators — three Democrats and three Republicans — landed in Shanghai on a U.S. government jet on an overcast and windy afternoon. The Republicans were led by Idaho Senator Mike Crapo, the senior member of his party on the Senate Finance Committee.
Asked about his expectations for the visit, Schumer, a Democrat from New York, said he hoped it would be productive.
A series of high-ranking Biden administration officials have met their Chinese counterparts in Beijing in recent months, but no other U.S lawmakers have made the trip since China lifted its COVID-19 restrictions in December 2022.
China, in a statement earlier this week, said it hoped the visit would “contribute to a more objective understanding of China in the U.S. Congress.”
In a reminder of the tensions between the two countries, China's commerce ministry said Saturday that new U.S. restrictions placed on 42 Chinese companies were "a typical act of economic coercion and unilateral bullying.”
The U.S. Commerce Department added the Chinese companies and seven others to its entity list on Friday. It said the companies supplied “U.S.-origin” semiconductors that Russia uses for missile guidance systems and drones in the war against Ukraine. American companies cannot export to organizations on the entity list without obtaining a special license.
Schumer's office said the visit would focus on the need for reciprocity from China for U.S. business in trade and on maintaining American leadership in advanced technologies for national security. He also hoped to discuss human rights, fentanyl production and China's role in the international community, as well as areas for potential cooperation.
A smooth visit could help pave the way for a Biden-Xi summit during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting of leaders in San Francisco next month. The senators hope to meet Xi in Beijing during their visit.
A Chinese international relations expert said that Schumer's visit is a sign of improvement in China-U.S. relations.
“If the talks proceed well, there is the possibility that President Xi will meet Schumer,” said Wang Yiwei, director of the Institute of International Affairs at Renmin University of China. “If their meeting is realized, the chances for a Xi-Biden meeting will become greater.”
The White House has been in touch with Schumer and supports the delegation's visit to the region, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said after the trip was announced. The senators will go to South Korea and Japan after their stop in China.
