Trade war: China to send Liu He to US to sign phase one deal next week but phase two talks remain remote

China’s Ministry of Commerce confirmed on Thursday that Vice-Premier Liu He will travel to Washington on Monday to sign the phase one deal with the United States

Spokesman Gao Feng said there was no information to provide regarding talks over a phase two deal

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China's Vice-Premier Liu He will lead a delegation to the United States on Monday to sign a phase one trade deal. Photo: AFP

Published: 3:32pm, 9 Jan 2020Updated: 8:13pm, 17 Feb 2020

China has confirmed it will send a delegation led by Vice-Premier Liu He to sign the phase one deal with the United States next Monday, but showed progress on the second phase of negotiations would not materialise any time soon.

Ministry of Commerce spokesman Gao Feng said at a press conference in Beijing on Thursday that Liu “will lead a delegation to visit Washington from January 13 to 15 to sign the phase one deal with the US”. At the same time, Gao said China has “no information” to provide on the phase two talks.

Liu’s trip had been arranged following “an invitation by the US”, the spokesman said, though the vice-premier will not bear the title of “special ambassador of President Xi Jinping”, and will instead travel to Washington as “a Politburo member, Vice-Premier and the China side leader for China-US comprehensive economic dialogue”.

The South China Morning Post reported on Sunday that Liu had postponed his trip to Washington by eight days to January 13 after US President Donald Trump published a tweet on New Year’s Eve that he would sign the deal on January 15 at the White House.

Liu] will lead a delegation to visit Washington from January 13 to 15 to sign the phase one deal with the US

Gao Feng

The tweet had surprised officials in Beijing, with China only revising its plans to accommodate Trump’s plan following “a full afternoon’s discussion”, the Post reported.

Gao did not confirm that China had changed its plans or provide details of a proposed phase two part of the trade deal, despite Trump also tweeting that “At a later date I will be going to Beijing where talks will begin on Phase Two!”

But at the same time, Gao said the two countries’ negotiating teams are still “communicating closely” over the specifics of how to sign the deal.