US-China trade talks kick off in Shanghai with little fanfare
- There were few visible signs of negotiations in Shanghai on Tuesday, as officials started first face-to-face talks since May
- Expectations low on both sides over the outcome, with state media evoking spirit of Richard Nixon’s Shanghai visit in 1972
The latest round of US-China trade talks began in Shanghai on Tuesday morning in extremely low-key fashion, with both sides seeking to play down expectations of a quick end to the trade war.
Negotiators led by US trade representative Robert Lighthizer and US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on the American side and Vice-Premier Liu He on the Chinese side have previously shuttled between the respective capital cities of Washington and Beijing. The Shanghai talks will also be the first time China’s Commerce Minister Zhong Shan will play a direct role.
However, there were few signs of the talks on the ground in Shanghai. Local media carried little coverage on Tuesday, while there were no reports or pictures of the US delegation touching down in the city, despite this being the first face-to-face meeting between top trade envoys since talks dramatically collapsed in May.
The itinerary has also been kept under wraps. According to Bloomberg, the Chinese side will host a dinner at the Fairmont Peace Hotel, a landmark building in the historic Bund area by the Huangpu River, on Tuesday evening.