WASHINGTON—As the Trump administration prepares for its first formal economic talks with China here Wednesday, Chinese officials highlighted their ability to quell trade tensions with the new American president, while some U.S. business groups expressed concern their government might not push Beijing hard enough.

After Donald Trump’s November election, “many kept their fingers crossed, worrying that China-U.S. trade relations would enter a stormy…winter and even run the risk of a trade war,” Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang...