Jinping had previously told Biden on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit that “China is ready to work with the new US administration to maintain communication, expand cooperation and manage differences, so as to strive for a smooth transition of the China-US relationship.”

The US’s economic partners are racing to sustain trade volumes in a Donald Trump era by closing new bilateral deals and rerouting supply chains to cope with increased US protectionism. Policymakers and trade experts say countries are turning to a tactic deployed during the US president’s first term in office,