US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo opened talks with Beijing officials on Monday saying it is "profoundly important" the world's two largest economies have a stable economic relationship.

Raimondo made the comments just before broadcaster CCTV reported that commerce minister Wang Wentao met her in the capital.

Wang told her it was a "great pleasure to conduct dialogue and coordination with you in the field of economy and trade".

Her visit – which will last until Wednesday – is the latest in a series of high-level trips by US officials to China in recent months, and is aimed at cooling trade tensions between the world's two largest economies.

The commerce secretary said the entire world expects the United States and China will have a stable economic relationship; the two countries share more than US$700 billion in annual trade.

"It's a complicated relationship. It's a challenging relationship. We will of course disagree on certain issues," Raimondo said. "I think we can make progress if we are direct, open and practical."

Raimondo is holding three days of talks with Chinese and business leaders on the mainland to boost business ties between the world's two largest economies.

Wang had said the US-China economic relations matter not just to the two countries, but also to the rest of the world, and that he is ready to work together to "foster a more favourable policy environment" for US and Chinese businesses. (Reuters/AFP)
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Last updated: 2023-08-28 HKT 11:25