Exclusive | China and US teams bypass Washington and go straight to Buenos Aires for trade war talks
- US and China trade negotiation teams change venue for high-level talks at last minute
- New venue intended to help prepare ground for Xi-Trump G20 meeting
Chinese and American trade negotiators have made a last-minute change to their original plans and rescheduled their talks for Buenos Aires instead of Washington, a source who was briefed on the matter has told the South China Morning Post.
The Post reported last week that Vice-Premier Liu He, China’s chief trade negotiator and the top economic aide to President Xi Jinping, was planning to fly to Washington for talks with the US delegation, possibly led by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.
However, a person who was updated on the latest changes said the plan had been adjusted after “work-level discussions” between Beijing and Washington.
“The latest plan is that the two countries’ trade negotiation teams will meet in Buenos Aires,” the person, who declined to be identified, said.
The source said the change was partly intended to ensure the talks would have a more direct effect on the meeting between Xi and US President Donald Trump during the G20 summit in the Argentine capital late next week.