The world’s top two economies are in the middle of a huge trade war over tariffs.
US duties are in place on $250 billion worth of Chinese goods and Chinese duties on $110 billion of US goods.
There will be the leaders of 18 countries at next week’s import expo in Shanghai, including the prime ministers from Russia and Pakistan and representatives from 2,800 companies.
The expo will run from November 5 to November 10 and aims to bring together thousands of foreign and Chinese companies in a bid to boost imports and narrow trade gaps.
The international import expo is part of Beijing’s efforts to show the world a richer China is good for global business.
China has said Washington’s decision to not send any senior government officials to the expo is “hard to understand”.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said China’s decision to hold an import fair shows the Chinese Government’s decision to open up the country and share the benefits of its development.
China’s President Xi Jinping will host a banquet on November 4 ahead of the opening ceremony for the attending foreign state leaders and senior government officials.
The UK’s delegation will include a group of 20 UK firms which will be led by Prince Andrew and International Trade Secretary Liam Fox.
Fu Ziying, a commerce vice-minister in China, said: “China International Import Expo will become an open cooperation platform for countries around the world to display national image and conduct international trade.”
Wang Zhe, Party head of China’s retail company Suning Holdings Group, said: “During the expo, we expect to import at least 1,000 kinds of products and services that have not been available in the local market.
“Over the next three years we plan to import goods worth 10 billion euros.”
The trade war between the US and China kicked off in March when the Trump administration announced tariffs on $50 billion work of Chinese goods in a bid to punish China for the theft of US intellectual property and economic policies that the US said harmed American firms.
In response, Beijing announced tariffs on $50 billion worth of US goods.