The takeout from China-U.S. high-level talks in Washington

World
Europe

Negotiators from China and the United States resorted to a takeaway meal as they battled to try to advance trade talks amid heavy snowfall in Washington last month.

Wang Shouwen, Vice Minister of Commerce and Deputy China International Trade Representative, has been telling a news conference on the sidelines of the second session of the 13th NPC in Beijing about how the two sides tried to make every minute of their tight schedule count.

"Both sides continued negotiations during a heavy snow day in Washington. And delegates grabbed just takeout amid the high-level talks, which doubled to four days," Shouwen said on Saturday.

On February 24, the final day of talks, delegates on both sides chose a quick lunch to save more time for heading back to the negotiation table.

Chinese Vice Premier Liu He, also chief of the Chinese side of the China-U.S. comprehensive economic dialogue tried a beef burger, which U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin also likes, while U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer enjoyed Chinese diced eggplant and chicken with rice.

Lighthizer's fondness of boiled water perplexes his colleagues but resonated immediately with Liu who also prefers boiled water and thinks it is better to help maintain fitness than tea and coffee.

The banquet for Chinese Vice Premier Liu He is hosted at Blair House, officially known as the President's Guest House. /Photo by Taoran Note, a Wechat official account platform

Liu was greeted at the door of Blair House, officially known as the President's Guest House where the welcoming banquet was hosted by Lighthizer as well as Mnuchin.

Liu He was greeted by U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin at the door of Blair House. /Photo by Taoran Note, a Wechat official account platform

Before the banquet, Lighthizer and Peter Navarro, assistant to the president for trade and manufacturing policy and director of the National Trade Council of U.S. also accompanied Liu on a visit of the guest house.

Lighthizer and Navarro accompanied Liu on a visit of Blair House. /Photo by Taoran Note, a Wechat official account platform

Wang said he was optimistic about negotiations with Washington, and that the two sides are working on a deal to eliminate the tariffs imposed on each other during the trade war, as tit-for-tat tariffs are not beneficial for either.

Cletus R. Willems III, deputy director of the National Economic Council of U.S., disclosed that the dialogue is continuing every day, and progress has been made but there is still a lot to do.

China and the U.S. concluded the seventh round of high-level economic and trade talks in Washington and U.S. President Donald Trump tweeted that he "will be delaying" the increase of tariffs on Chinese imports scheduled for March 1, due to the "very productive" trade talks between the two countries on February 24.