hearing, has held what the us calls candid and constructive talks with china s foreign minister in beijing. this at the start of two days of meetings with chinese officials. mr blinken emphasised the need for diplomacy and keeping open channels of communication us officials added. the trip to china is the first by a top us diplomat in almost five years and comes months after an earlier visit by the secretary of state was postponed when a suspected chinese spy balloon flew in us airspace. can this trip reboot relations? to discuss this and what s at stake for the world s two biggest economies, i m joined by alicia garcia herrero chief economist at natixis. good to have you on the programme. from your perspective, when we are looking at trade, the two biggest economies in the world, how important is this trip? extremely important. and the main reason for this trip is not even trade, it s about assurance to really avoid a military conflict in taiwan and i think that s th
main reason for this trip is not even trade, it s about assurance to really avoid a military conflict in taiwan and i think that s the first thing that antony blinken needs to secure, which will then give the floor to continue to trade and investment. the floor to continue to trade and investment. china said that its core interest and investment. china said that its core interest is and investment. china said that its core interest is tie and investment. china said that its core interest is tie one - and investment. china said that its core interest is tie one on i its core interest is tie one on the biggest risk to china us relations as well, depending on what the us does or doesn t do. how do you see that playing out in the future, are you concerned about what china might do in terms of taiwan? i think blinken is concerned, i don t know if i should be but the point is that the whole us is, in my view, increasingly wary about the possibility especially after the elections in ta