U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is due to arrive in Beijing on September 29 for talks with China’s leadership about the North Korean nuclear threat, U.S.-China trade, and an upcoming visit to China by U.S. President Donald Trump.
Tillerson was scheduled to meet on September 30 with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and other senior Chinese officials. It is Tillerson’s second trip to China since taking office in February.
The U.S. State Department wants China to take tougher actions against North Korea in response to its nuclear weapons and intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) tests.
On September 28, China announced that all North Korean companies in China have been required to shut down by early January.
But the notice said companies approved by the United Nations Security Council sanctions committee, including nonprofit and noncommercial infrastructure projects, would be exempted.
That order is linked to the latest sanctions, passed on September 11 by the United Nations Security Council, in response to North Korea’s missile and nuclear weapons tests.
Trump’s first official visit to China is expected to take place in November.
Trump met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Florida in April for talks that established a 100-day plan for further trade discussions running through mid-July.
Despite that opening, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross said after a trip to Beijing last week that more needs to be done on bilateral trade.