Spokesperson: UN hopes China-U.S. talks will lead to more normalized trade relationship

The United Nations hopes that the talks between China and the United States, scheduled to take place in Switzerland, will help the two countries move toward a more normalized trade relationship, a UN spokesperson said on Thursday.

"We just hope that these talks will help the United States and China to move towards a more normalized relationship regarding their trade relations. As the secretary general made clear, there can be no winners in a trade war," Farhan Haq, the deputy spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said at a daily briefing.

The UN chief "is particularly worried about the situation in terms of how a global war could affect developing countries. So any effort to avoid that would be welcome," Haq added.

He Lifeng, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and Vice Premier of the State Council, will visit Switzerland from May 9 to 12.

During his visit to Switzerland, He, as the Chinese lead person for China-U.S. economic and trade affairs, will meet with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, the U.S. lead person for the talks, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson announced on Wednesday.