Chinese President Xi Jinping and his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump agreed on Saturday to restart economic and trade consultations between their countries on the basis of equality and mutual respect.
The U.S. side said it will not add new tariffs on Chinese exports. The two countries' economic and trade negotiating teams will discuss specific issues.
The two leaders met on the sidelines of a summit of the Group of 20 major economies in the Japanese city of Osaka.
At the beginning of their meeting, Xi said that despite the great changes that have taken place in the international situation and China-U.S. relations during the past 40 years, "one basic fact remains unchanged: China and the United States both benefit from cooperation and lose in confrontation."
"Cooperation and dialogue are better than friction and confrontation," Xi told Trump.
Chinese President Xi Jinping meets U.S. President Donald Trump in Osaka, Japan, June 29, 2019. /Xinhua Photo
Saturday's meeting between the two presidents has been closely watched by many, especially after a phone conversation between them earlier this month, as businesses and investors are looking for signs of the year-long trade frictions to come to an end.
The two sides have made a lot of progress in 11 rounds of talks before tension escalated in May as 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 trade war has been damaging both countries' economies. A U.S. Chamber of Commerce report shows that continuous additional tariffs will leave the U.S. economy exposed to one trillion U.S. dollars of losses in 10 years.
A survey released this month by the China General Chamber of Commerce-USA (CGCC) showed that Chinese companies doing business in the United States share an "apparent" fear that the U.S. business environment will become "less welcoming" as the trade frictions with China intensify.
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