(Yicai) Aug. 23 -- The US Secretary of Commerce’s upcoming trip to China is the latest in a series of recent initiatives to strengthen communication and stabilize relations, said Wang Yong, a professor at Peking University’s School of International Studies.

Gina Raimondo will visit from Aug. 27 to 30, China’s Ministry of Commerce announced yesterday. This will be the fourth trip to the country by a senior US official since June, coming shortly after US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen’s visit in July.

Wang said China and the United States still have many shared economic and trade interests, despite their fierce competition.

The US commerce department also has decided to remove 33 entities from its so-called unverified list, 27 of which are in China, according to the official website of its affiliate Bureau of Industry and Security on Aug. 21.

“Since the end of April, the US government has greatly adjusted its principles on China-US relations, especially on economic and trade relations,” Wang said.

“In the past, we emphasized so-called decoupling, but now we realize that this is unrealistic and have changed it to so-called de-risking,” the scholar said. “Though the two terms are similar, the current expression emphasizes the need to reduce dependency on the Chinese market rather than completely decoupling.”

Raimondo's visit will be beneficial for China-US stability and the maintenance or even improvement of existing relations, Wang pointed out. He also called for both countries to adopt some pragmatic policies to safeguard their common interests.

China has recently increased the number of approved countries for outbound group tours from 60 to 138, adding the US and Mexico.

Raimondo said that China’s resumption of group tours to the United States will benefit travel and tourism in the country, and it is an important step to promote the people-to-people exchanges that are vital for bilateral relations.

Wang said this response from Raimondo was a positive signal indicating a desire for improved interaction and communication, adding that it will benefit both countries in the post-pandemic recovery.

Last week, the US Department of Transportation decided to allow Chinese airlines to operate 18 pairs of direct passenger flights between China and the US every week from Sept. 1. The figure will increase to 24 a week from Oct. 29.

Editor: Tom Litting