US lawmakers arrive in China, 1st time since ’19

Shanghai, October 7

A delegation of US lawmakers led by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer arrived in China on Saturday in the first congressional visit to the country since 2019.

The trip comes amid sharp deterioration in relations between the two countries and as Chinese and American officials try to lay the groundwork for a possible meeting between Presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping in November.

The delegation of six senators, which includes three Democrats and three Republicans, landed in Shanghai in the afternoon. The Republicans were led by Idaho Senator Mike Crapo, the senior member of his party on the Senate Finance Committee. Schumer is a New York Democrat.

A series of high-ranking Biden administration officials have met their Chinese counterparts in Beijing in recent months, but no other US lawmakers have made the trip since China lifted its Covid restrictions in December of last year.

China said in a statement earlier this week that it hoped the visit would “contribute to a more objective understanding of China in the US Congress”. — AP