The trade and economic delegations of China and the United States held in-depth, candid and constructive exchanges over the past day and a half, a senior Chinese official said on Monday.

Li Chenggang, China international trade representative with the Ministry of Commerce and vice minister of commerce, made the remarks while briefing the press following the new round of China-US economic and trade talks in Paris.

Through this round of consultations, the two sides reached preliminary consensus on some issues. In the next step, both sides will continue to maintain the consultation process, he said.

China and the US agreed to continue to commit to maintaining the stability of bilateral tariff levels, Li said.

The two sides discussed establishing a bilateral working mechanism to promote cooperation in trade and investment, he said.

He stressed that China's position on Section 301 investigations has been consistent and that it opposes such unilateral probes.

"We are concerned about the possible interference and damage that the result of such investigations might have on the hard-won, stable economic and trade relations between China and the US," said Li.

He added that the Chinese side will closely follow the development of these investigations and take timely measures to safeguard China's legitimate rights and interests.

China and the United States agreed that stable bilateral economic and trade relations are beneficial to both countries and the world, he added.

Li expressed the hope that the US side will honor its words and work together with China in the same direction to facilitate a long-term, steady China-US trade and economic relationship.