Donald Trump ally John Thornton briefs China’s trade war negotiator Vice-Premier Liu He in Beijing
Thornton outlines Washington’s thinking to annual meeting of Chinese sovereign wealth fund’s international advisory board
One of US President Donald Trump’s allies was among the business heavyweights in Beijing at a closed-door meeting chaired by China’s point man on trade war talks, Vice-Premier Liu He, the South China Morning Post has learned.
John Thornton, chairman of the liberal-centrist Brookings Institution think tank and former president of investment bank Goldman Sachs, outlined some of Washington’s thinking on the escalating trade war on Tuesday at a meeting of the international advisory board of China’s sovereign wealth fund, China Investment Corp (CIC).
The details of Thornton’s comments at the gathering at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse were not revealed.
But state news agency Xinhua quoted Liu as telling the meeting that China would press ahead on market reform, globalisation and multilateral trade, no matter what the external circumstances were.
Watch: The origins and impact of the US-China trade war
The vice-premier also said China’s per capita gross domestic product was approaching US$10,000, signalling the growth of a robust domestic market, the report said. Last year, the country’s per capita GDP was US$8,830.