By Xu Hailin, Han Shuo, Yan Huan, People’s Daily
China and the United States reached a basic framework consensus on resolving issues related to TikTok through cooperation, reducing investment barriers and promoting relevant economic and trade cooperation, said Li Chenggang, China international trade representative with the Ministry of Commerce and vice-minister of commerce.
On Sept. 14 and 15, the Chinese and U.S. delegations convened talks on economic and trade issues in Madrid, Spain. Li said on a press briefing hosted by the Chinese delegation after the talks that during the past two days, the two sides have actively implemented the important consensus reached by the heads of state of the two countries in their phone call, fully leveraged the China-U.S. trade consultation mechanism, and engaged in candid, in-depth and constructive communication based on mutual respect and equal consultation regarding economic and trade issues of mutual concern, including TikTok.
Regarding the TikTok issue, China has always opposed politicization, instrumentalization and weaponization of technology as well as economic and trade matters, and will never seek to reach any agreement at the expense of principles, interests of companies, or international fairness and justice, Li said.
China will firmly safeguard the national interests, the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises, and carry out technology export approval in accordance with relevant laws and regulations, Li said, adding that the Chinese government also fully respects the will of enterprises and supports them in conducting business negotiations on an equal footing in accordance with market principles.
At the press briefing, Wang Jingtao, deputy director of the Cyberspace Administration of China, said both sides reached a basic consensus regarding the full respect for the will of the business as well as the law of the market on resolving the TikTok issue through such methods as the entrusted operation of TikTok’s U.S. user data and content security business, and the license for use of the algorithm and other intellectual property rights.
The Chinese government will examine and approve relevant matters involving TikTok, such as the technology export and the license use of intellectual property, in accordance with relevant laws and regulations, Wang added.
The Chinese government has always firmly safeguarded the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese-funded enterprises and encouraged them to actively explore and develop abroad, he said.
China hopes that the U.S. side, based on the consensus reached, could provide an open, fair, just and non-discriminatory business environment for Chinese enterprises operating in the United States, including TikTok, thus contributing to the stable, healthy and sustainable development of China-U.S. economic and trade relations, he said.
The reason why the Chinese side agreed to a consensus is because, based on its assessment, China has come to the judgment that such a consensus is in their mutual interest, Li said. Through discussions on the TikTok issue, the two sides further recognized that a stable China-U.S. economic and trade relationship is of great significance to both countries.
Both sides will continue to maintain close communication, discuss the details of the relevant outcome documents, and each will go through the domestic approval procedures, Li added.
Li said the Chinese side has noted that the U.S. side is still continuously expanding sanctions against Chinese entities after a series of economic and trade consultations between the two countries.
Li said that the United States has overstretched the concept of national security, and continuously expanded the list of sanctions against Chinese entities, with its long arm of jurisdiction reaching ever farther, which are a typical act of unilateral bullying that violates international law and the basic norms governing international relations.
China firmly opposes this, and raised serious concerns to the U.S. side during the talks, Li added.
The U.S. side cannot, on the one hand, ask China to take care of U.S. concerns, and on the other hand, continuously suppress Chinese enterprises, he said, adding that China urges the United States to correct its mistakes, lift these restrictions as soon as possible, and work with China to jointly safeguard the hard-won achievements of China-U.S. economic and trade consultations, so as to promote the healthy, stable and sustainable development of bilateral economic and trade relations.
Li also expressed his gratitude to Spain for its support and hospitality in hosting the China-U.S. economic and trade talks.
