China’s purchases of US agricultural products ‘efforts to show goodwill’ ahead of Shanghai trade talks
- State TV says ‘millions of tonnes’ of US soybeans bought since the G20 summit between President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump at the end of June
- Trade representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin are set to meet Vice-Premier Liu He on Tuesday and Wednesday
China’s purchases of agricultural products from the United States are part of “unremitting efforts to show goodwill” ahead of the resumption of trade talks in Shanghai this week, as well as a bid to shift the focus away from controversial issues of forced technology transfer and enforcement, according to state media.
State television reported over the weekend that “millions of tonnes” of US soybeans have been loaded onto ships destined for Chinese ports since the G20 summit meeting between President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump at the end of June in Japan.
It was also reported that Chinese buyers have started to contact US exporters over potential purchases of other farm products, including cotton, pork, sorghum, wheat, corn and dairy products, since July 19.
“Behind those pragmatic moves, there are China’s unremitting efforts to show goodwill and to break the current deadlock of the China-US trade talks,” the state-run Xinhua New Agency said in a commentary published on Monday.
It added that China’s purchases of US soybean showed that Beijing was correct in its statement that cooperation is the only right choice between the two countries.