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US-China trade war
ChinaDiplomacy

Beijing casts doubt on state of trade talks after Donald Trump says it wanted a deal

  • Foreign ministry ‘not aware’ of weekend phone calls in which US president said China asked to ‘get back to the table’
  • The two sides are in contact only at a technical level, state media editor says

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Donald Trump claimed China had contacted “our top people”, hinting at a follow-up to last month’s talks, in which the US’ Robert Lighthizer (left) and Steven Mnuchin (centre) met China’s Liu He (right). Photo: AFP
Sarah Zhengin Beijing

Beijing has cast doubt on whether trade talks are set to resume, with its foreign ministry contradicting US President Donald Trump’s claim that China had sought a return to the negotiating table and state media saying the countries were in touch only at a “technical level”.

Markets jumped when Trump said on Monday that China called “our top people” – the US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin – on Sunday evening to “get back to the table” to negotiate to resolve the two countries’ year-long trade war.

The countries had been due to speak on Tuesday, according to a previous statement from China’s Ministry of Commerce after their last telephone call on August 13.

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But there has since been no sign of progress on that front and the Chinese foreign ministry again said on Tuesday that it was not aware of the phone calls over the weekend.

“I have not heard of that,” foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said when asked about the call.

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“China and the US should resolve their trade disputes through dialogue. We have had 12 rounds of high-level consultations, and working teams from the two sides are keeping in touch.

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