Call for more working-level US-China talks

By the Editorial Team · Friday, October 23, 2026

Michael Hart, president of the American Chamber of Commerce in China, urged for expanded engagement between U.S. and Chinese working-level officials to build more stable and detailed bilateral relations beyond summit diplomacy. He emphasized that while frequent leader meetings have eased tensions, American businesses need sustained negotiations to address persistent challenges like market access and provide long-term certainty.

The president of the American Chamber of Commerce in China has called for increased engagement between working-level officials from the United States and China to foster more stable and substantive bilateral relations. Michael Hart acknowledged the positive impact of frequent meetings between the leaders of both countries but emphasized that long-term stability requires deeper, sustained negotiations beyond summit diplomacy.

Speaking at the Bund Summit in Shanghai on Wednesday, Hart said American businesses welcomed the "unprecedented" frequency of direct talks between President Xi Jinping and former U.S. President Donald Trump, but cautioned that working-level officials, who play a key role in shaping detailed policies, often face compressed preparation timelines. He noted that while government agencies typically have more than six months to prepare for leader-level meetings, officials had less than six months between the two recent summits held in May and September 2026.

Looking ahead to 2027, Hart expressed hope that initial negotiations would involve senior economic officials from both sides before progressing further down to working-level representatives. He argued that relying primarily on dialogue between presidents was insufficient to resolve persistent structural challenges.

Over the past year, China-U.S. relations have seen notable fluctuations, moving from heightened trade tensions to tentative rapprochement. A summit in Busan in October 2025 contributed to cooling trade disputes, followed by Trump’s visit to Beijing in May 2026 and Xi’s trip to Washington in September. Additional meetings are anticipated at the upcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders’ summit in Shenzhen next month, as well as at the Group of 20 summit in Miami in December.

Despite the progress made through these high-profile encounters, Hart stressed that American businesses remain wary of the volatility in bilateral ties, which largely depend on decisions made by the two presidents. He said companies require more enduring and predictable conditions, highlighting unresolved issues such as market access restrictions.

“Fundamental problems still exist. Market access issues still exist, so there are plenty of issues to work on,” Hart said, underscoring the need for a more institutionalized and comprehensive approach to U.S.-China engagement to provide businesses with the long-term certainty they seek.

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