Cautious optimism in Beijing for US-China trade deal
- Chinese state media welcomes the positives but warns any final agreement will not please everyone in either country
- Senior diplomat Wang Yi says ‘concrete progress’ achieved in Washington talks
China’s senior diplomat Wang Yi said on Monday that the latest round of trade talks with the US had provided “positive prospects” on Sino-American ties and the global economy, as state media reacted with cautious optimism.
The talks between chief negotiators in Washington, described by Wang at a Beijing event as “achieving concrete progress”, yielded an immediate delay to US President Donald Trump’s planned extra tariffs on Chinese imports.
Commentaries from top Communist Party mouthpieces like newspaper People’s Daily and state news agency Xinhua said that the just-concluded round of talks in Washington sent a cautiously positive sign for a settlement to the friction between the world’s two biggest economies, but also cautioned that any final deal would face criticism both within China and the US.
Trump said late on Sunday that he would delay the application of additional tariffs on Chinese imports, citing “substantial progress” in the talks with China’s team led by Vice-Premier Liu He.
“I am pleased to report that the US has made substantial progress in our trade talks with China on important structural issues including intellectual property protection, technology transfer, agriculture, services, currency, and many other issues,” Trump said in a tweet.
Xinhua said both countries had achieved “substantial progress” on issues including technology transfer, intellectual property protection, non-tariff barriers, services, agriculture and currency.