US Senator Steve Daines, a close ally of President Donald Trump, has wrapped up a days-long trip to China, just weeks ahead of Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s planned visit to Washington.
According to accounts online from a Chinese local government and various companies, the Montana Republican travelled from Wednesday to Saturday to China’s tech hub Hangzhou and the southern city of Guangzhou.
The visit is consistent with an earlier South China Morning Post report about expectations for Daines’ return trip to China.
According to the online accounts, the Trump envoy visited a top Chinese university and several technology firms.
Daines’ trip was a sharp contrast to a visit in July by the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission’s bipartisan delegation, which had sought to visit several Chinese tech giants but was denied.
Daines’ visit comes against the backdrop of an intensifying tech war that has become a major front in the US-China strategic rivalry.