New round of China-U.S. trade consultation begins on Oct. 10

At the invitation of the U.S. side, Chinese Vice Premier Liu He will lead a Chinese delegation to Washington, D.C. for a new round of high-level economic and trade consultations from October 10 to 11.

Liu, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chief of the Chinese side of the China-U.S. comprehensive economic dialogue, will hold economic and trade consultations with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.

Key members of the Chinese delegation, include Minister of Commerce Zhong Shan, Governor of the People's Bank of China Yi Gang, Vice Chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission Ning Jizhe, Deputy Director of the Office of the Central Commission for Financial and Economic Affairs, and Vice Finance Minister Liao Min, Vice Foreign Minister Zheng Zeguang, Vice Minister of Industry and Information Technology Wang Zhijun, Deputy Director of the Office of the Central Agricultural Work Leading Group, Vice Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs Han Jun, and Vice Minister of Commerce and Deputy China International Trade Representative Wang Shouwen.

China and the U.S. had agreed to a truce in the trade war between them in December 2018 after high-stakes talks in Argentina saw the two parties agreeing to terms, including no escalated tariffs in January 2019.

However, the tension escalated in May when the U.S. raised tariffs to 25 percent from 10 percent on 200 billion U.S. dollars of Chinese goods, and China responded by adding tariffs on U.S. goods worth 60 billion U.S. dollars.

The two leaders then agreed on June 29, on the sidelines of the G20 summit in the Japanese city of Osaka, to restart economic and trade consultations based on equality and mutual respect, with the U.S. side saying it will not add new tariffs on Chinese exports.

Later, the 12th round of economic and trade consultations between China and the U.S. was held in Shanghai July 30-31, discussing why previous negotiations were halted, clarifying their views on certain economic and trade issues, and discussing the principles and methods for future talks.

On September 5, Chinese Vice Premier Liu He had a phone conversation with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin at the invitation of the U.S. side, and both sides agreed to jointly take concrete action to create favorable conditions for bilateral consultations.

Official sources said on September 24 that China supports relevant enterprises continuing to purchase a certain amount of U.S. farm products, including soybeans and pork, in line with the rules of the market and the World Trade Organization.

This came after the United States released three lists exempting additional tariffs on over 400 types of Chinese products.

Editor: John Li