China can take a tougher stance in trade talks with US at G20, economists say
- Think tank at Tsinghua University in Beijing warns measures should not go too far as the ultimate aim is ‘to bring US decision makers back to the negotiating table’
- Report says a new round of reform and opening up could be launched to handle efforts to ‘contain China’s development’
China’s strong economic resilience means trade negotiators will be able to take a harder line during upcoming talks with Washington, according to researchers at a Chinese think tank.
But they warned that Beijing should not go too far with retaliatory measures because the ultimate aim was to “bring the US back to the negotiating table”.
The comments came just days before Chinese President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Donald Trump are due to meet during the Group of 20 summit in Japan to try to find an end to the year-long trade war.
China is seen to be running out of ammunition in the prolonged trade battle, even though it imposed retaliatory tariffs on US$60 billion of American goods this month and has introduced an “unreliable” entities list that could be used to punish US businesses.
There are also concerns that the trade war could weigh heavily on China’s economy and even cause social instability. But in a report released on Sunday, a think tank at Tsinghua University in Beijing said the country’s economic fundamentals remained sound and that China could sustain growth by doubling its middle-income population from the current 400 million to 800 million in 15 years.