US Senators Make First Congressional Visit to China Since 2019

A delegation of U.S. lawmakers led by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer arrived in China on Saturday in the first congressional visit to the country since 2019. A series of high-ranking Biden administration officials have met their Chinese counterparts in Beijing in recent months, but no other U.S lawmakers have made the trip since China lifted its COVID-19 restrictions in December 2022. China, in a statement earlier this week, said it hoped the visit would "Contribute to a more objective understanding of China in the U.S. Congress." Schumer's office said the visit would focus on the need for reciprocity from China for U.S. business in trade and on maintaining American leadership in advanced technologies for national security. The senators hope to meet Xi in Beijing during their visit. "If the talks proceed well, there is the possibility that President Xi will meet Schumer," said Wang Yiwei, director of the Institute of International Affairs at Renmin University of China. The senators will go to South Korea and Japan after their stop in China.