A view of a Starbucks outlet in Beijing in March Photo: Zhang Hongpei/GT

Chinese Vice Minister of Commerce Wang Shouwen held an online meeting with American business groups and representatives on Thursday in an open discussion on trade and investment against the backdrop of worsening China-US relations aggravated by the Trump administration.

The meeting was held to strengthen cooperation with companies from the US and provide a good environment for their business resumption in China in the post-pandemic era, Wang said at the meeting with the representatives of the American Chamber of Commerce in China, according to the website of the Ministry of Commerce on Friday.

Wang said that it is hoped that the US business community will play its role as a bridge between the two countries and economic and trade relations continue to be a "stabilizer" for bilateral relations.

The decision to meet with the country's business leaders comes after US President Donald Trump and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's relentless efforts to seek disagreements and differences between the two countries when the world economy needs cooperation following the pandemic, which is still ongoing in many parts of the world, experts said.

Despite the global pandemic and rising tensions with the US, China has been advancing its opening-up, implemented foreign investment laws, cut negative list for foreign investors, and further relaxed foreign investment access.

China has successfully contained the epidemic and business has largely resumed in most parts of the country, with its GDP rose 3.2 percent in the second quarter.

Meanwhile, as China quickly resumes business in the post-epidemic era, green channels have been established with foreign countries to help their employees return to work in China.

To help foreign-funded enterprises resume work and coordinate the implementation of major projects, the Chinese commerce ministry has set up special working groups for key foreign-funded projects to provide whole-process services in conjunction with relevant departments, provinces and cities, Wang said at the meeting.

As important businesses gradually resume, issues such as helping foreign company executives and their families return to China were also being discussed.

The companies from the US attach great importance to the Chinese market and are optimistic about the prospect of China's economic development, representatives said at the meeting, noting that they are committed to promoting equal, mutually beneficial and sustainable China-US relations and oppose politicizing economic and trade issues.