China confirms ‘considerable’ purchases of US soybeans and pork ahead of October’s trade war talks
- Ministry of Commerce spokesman Gao Feng says Beijing is ‘preparing for positive progress’ next month in Washington
- US President Donald Trump said that a deal ‘could happen sooner than you think’, just a day after blasting China in a speech to the United Nations General Assembly
China has bought a “considerable” amount of soybeans and pork from the United States ahead of high level talks aimed at ending the protracted trade war, the Ministry of Commerce confirmed on Thursday.
The ministry’s comments at its regular weekly press conference were generally upbeat but did not disclose any new information about the crucial trade talks expected to take place in Washington during the second week of October.
“China and the US are currently maintaining close communications and preparing for positive progress in the high-level economic and trade talks. The Chinese side has always been consistent in its negotiations. It is hoped that the two sides will meet half way and find a mutually beneficial and win-win approach based on equality and mutual respect,” said Ministry of Commerce spokesman Gao Feng.
“Recently Chinese enterprises have started, based on the markets and World Trade Organisation rules, price enquiries and purchases of US agricultural products, and have also completed considerable transactions for soybeans and pork,” said Gao.
It is hoped that the two sides will find a mutually beneficial and win-win approach based on equality and mutual respect
On Tuesday, US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said he and US trade representative Robert Lighthizer would host another round of trade negotiations with Chinese Vice-Premier Liu He in two weeks.
“I think it’s not next week but the following week we’ll be having those talks,” Mnuchin said in an interview with Fox Business Network, adding that negotiators had made some progress in easing the trade tensions in last week’s deputy-level meetings.