China’s Navy chief to visit US next month amid trade row

China’s Defense Ministry has said that its Navy chief Shen Jinlong will visit the United States next month. Ministry spokesman Wu Qian made the announcement at a briefing in Beijing on Thursday. The US expelled China in May from its military training around Hawaii in response to what Washington sees as Beijing’s militarization of islands in the South China Sea. The visit would come amid an escalating trade row between the two countries, which threatens to spill into other areas of tension between them, Reuters said. On Thursday, China’s Commerce Ministry said that trade issues with the US can only be resolved through talks as equals, adding that China will stick to the steady opening of its economy regardless of US actions.