Chinese airlines will be allowed to expand their flights to the US

Chinese airlines will be allowed to expand their flights to the US, 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 boost their weekly round-trip flights from eight to 12, matching the number of flights to China that US carriers have.

The department told the Financial Times it would “continue to assess how and when to further modify its posture towards PRC [People’s Republic of China] carrier flights in a manner that offers a competitive operating environment for the air carriers in the US”.

Beijing had been pushing the US to approve the change, partly to boost tourism but also to encourage more foreign investment in the wake of the decision to scrap its zero-Covid policy late last year.

But the two sides had been bogged down in a dispute related to Chinese carriers’ ability 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 Antony Blinken on Wednesday said President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, agreed to “set a floor” under the relationship when they met in November. But those efforts fell apart when a suspected Chinese spy balloon flew over the US in February.

The two countries are also in the middle of negotiations about potential visits to China by US cabinet officials. Blinken cancelled a visit in February because of the balloon, but his efforts to resurrect the trip have been complicated by Chinese concerns that 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 trips by Treasury secretary Janet Yellen and commerce secretary Gina Raimondo. Several people familiar with the situation said Chinese commerce minister Wang Wentao will soon visit the US, but it remains 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, last week said there could not be an “unlevel playing field”. He said US carriers should be able to fly to China without having to bear higher fuel costs or cope with longer flight times than their Chinese rivals.

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