China is ready to talk to resolve US trade war, says Vice-President Wang Qishan
- The two countries ‘wish to expand cooperation’ and Beijing is prepared to ‘push for a proposal acceptable to both sides’
- Tuesday’s speech strikes similar themes to those in Xi Jinping’s address a day earlier
China is ready to engage with the US to resolve their months-long trade war, Vice-President Wang Qishan said at a new economic forum in Singapore hosted by US billionaire Michael Bloomberg.
Wang, widely reputed to be a “firefighter” and one of President Xi Jinping’s most trusted allies, pushed back against Washington’s “America first” trade policies in a nearly 20-minute keynote address on Tuesday at the newly inaugurated Bloomberg New Economy Forum, without making reference to US President Donald Trump by name.
At the same time, he promoted a vision of globalisation that was an echo of Xi a day earlier in Shanghai at a government-sponsored import fair, in another effort by Beijing to quell global scepticism about its resolve to adopt economic reforms.
“China and the US both wish to expand cooperation on the economy and trade,” he said at the ballroom of the Capella Resort on Singapore’s Sentosa Island.
“The Chinese side is ready to have discussions with the US on issues of mutual concern to push for a proposal acceptable to both sides to resolve their economic and trade issues.”