Chinese airlines will be allowed to expand flights to the United States, in a small concession from Washington to Beijing that comes as the two countries struggle to stabilize their turbulent relationship.
The Department of Transportation on Wednesday issued an order allowing Chinese carriers to increase their weekly round-trip flights from eight to 12, matching the number of flights to China by U.S. carriers.
The department told the Financial Times that it would “continue to assess how and when to further modify its stance on the PRC. [People’s Republic of China] air carrier flights in a manner that provides a competitive operating environment for air carriers in the United States”.
Beijing had pushed the United States to approve the change, partly to boost tourism but also to encourage more foreign investment following the decision to abandon its zero-Covid policy late last year.
But the two sides were embroiled in a dispute over the ability of Chinese carriers to fly over Russia, giving them a cost advantage over US airlines, which have been banned from doing so by Moscow.
The decision marks a minor thaw in relations between the countries, which have reached their lowest point since they established relations in 1979.
US Secretary of State Antoine Blinken On Wednesday, President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, agreed to “set a floor” on the relationship when they met in November. But those efforts crumbled when a suspected Chinese spy balloon flew over the United States in February.
THE two countries are also in the midst of negotiations over possible visits to China by US cabinet officials. Blinken canceled a visit in February because of the balloon, but his efforts to resuscitate the trip have been complicated by Chinese fears the FBI will release the results of its investigation into the incident.
US officials have visited Beijing in recent months to try to pave the way for the Treasury Secretary’s trips Janet Yellen and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo. Several people familiar with the situation have said Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao will visit the United States soon, but it is unclear whether his visit will include Washington.
US carriers had lobbied against approving more flights for their Chinese rivals. Robert Isom, chief executive of American Airlines, said last week that there could be no “unequal playing field”. He said US carriers should be able to fly to China without having to incur higher fuel costs or deal with longer flight times than their Chinese rivals.
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