BEIJING (Reuters) -Bilateral relations and economic and trade cooperation between China and the United States are facing difficulties, Chinese Premier Li Qiang told the chair of the U.S.-China Business Council heading a USCBC delegation on a visit to Beijing.

Li’s remarks came at a time of frosty ties between the world’s two largest economies, and ahead of U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo’s expected visit to China in late August, which Bloomberg News reported on July 31.

“At present, China-U.S. relations and economic and trade cooperation are facing some difficulties, which require both sides to show sincerity, move towards each other and make joint efforts,” Li told USCBC chair Marc Casper on Monday, according to the Chinese state news agency Xinhua.

Li added that China is willing to work with the U.S. to jointly safeguard international trade rules and ensure the stability of global industrial chains.

The same day, Casper also met Chinese Industry Minister Jin Zhuanglong, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said in a statement, adding the two had an “in-depth” exchange on Sino-U.S. industrial development cooperation and other issues.

(Reporting by Ella Cao, Liangping Gao in Beijing and Meg Shen in Hong Kong, editing by Ed Osmond and Mark Heinrich)

Copyright 2023 Thomson Reuters.