Ahead of a possible meeting between US President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping, top US and Chinese trade officials spoke openly on trade issues in a bid to defuse or prepare for tensions.
Chinese state broadcaster cctv Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng was reported to have had “candid, in-depth and constructive talks” with US Treasury Secretary Scott Besant and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer over a video call on Thursday.
It began when the Chinese side expressed serious concern over the recent US restrictive trade measures against China, but the two sides agreed to further enhance consensus, manage differences and strengthen cooperation.
According to CCTV, the three last met for personal business talks in Paris in March.
The video call, which China said was aimed at “properly resolving economic and trade issues of mutual concern and expanding practical cooperation”, came just weeks before an expected summit between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in mid-May.
After months of a tit-for-tat trade war sparked by Trump’s so-called “Liberation Day” tariffs, the two countries reached an uneasy trade armistice last October when they met in Busan, South Korea.
Ahead of the planned May summit, relations between Beijing and Washington have been largely cool despite the energy and geopolitical complications brought on by the war on Iran.
Both have also sought to increase leverage ahead of the leaders’ meeting, with Washington blocking tool shipments to one of China’s major chip makers and Beijing imposing trade measures that analysts say could seriously undermine U.S. efforts to reduce supply chain dependence on China.
Chinese state media said the two sides expressed their desire to “promote the healthy, stable and sustainable development of China-US economic and trade relations” during Thursday’s call.
Additionally, Wall Street banks have increased their US Treasury holdings to the highest since 2007, so they believe it is time to buy into fixed income.
