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Exclusive | Trade war: China’s top negotiator Liu He to visit US for phase one deal signing this week, source says
- Vice-Premier Liu He has accepted an invitation to lead a delegation to the US from this Saturday, a source briefed on the matter told the Post
- US trade representative Robert Lighthizer previously said phase one trade deal would be signed in the first week of January
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Vice-Premier Liu He is set to lead a delegation to Washington this Saturday, where he is expected to sign a phase one deal that would significantly de-escalate the US-China trade war, a source briefed on the matter has told the South China Morning Post.
“Washington has sent an invitation and Beijing has accepted it,” said the source, who declined to be named due to the highly sensitive nature of the information. The Chinese delegation is expected to stay “a few days” in the US until the middle of next week, the source added.
Neither side has officially confirmed the trip. China’s Ministry of Commerce was not immediately available for comment.
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The signing of a phase one deal during Liu’s trip would mark a point of truce in the bitter trade war between the world’s two biggest economies, one that is expected to boost global markets and brighten increasingly gloomy outlooks for economic growth.
In addition, it could help to ease bilateral tensions between China and the US, which in recent months have grown more fraught, as US lawmakers moved to implement human rights and democracy legislation related to Hong Kong and Xinjiang.
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