China and the United States held the first meeting of their trade council under the bilateral economic and trade consultation mechanism via video conference on Friday, China's Ministry of Commerce said on Saturday.

During the inaugural meeting, officials from both countries had candid, in-depth and constructive discussions on issues of mutual concern, the ministry said. These included implementing the outcomes of previous China-US economic and trade consultations, a reciprocal tariff-reduction arrangement involving $30 billion on each side and agricultural trade. 

They agreed to continue communication through the trade council, address each other's economic and trade concerns, expand areas of cooperation and narrow differences, aiming to foster a constructive and stable China-US strategic relationship based on mutual respect, fairness and reciprocity, the ministry said.