China, U.S. conclude latest round of trade talks

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China and the United States have achieved substantial progress on specific issues following their latest round of high-level economic and trade talks in Washington, the Chinese delegation said Sunday.

The talks, held between February 21 and 24, mark the seventh round of negotiations since February last year.

During the latest round, Chinese and U.S. negotiators further implemented the important consensus reached by the presidents of the two countries during their December meeting in Argentina, and focused their talks on the text of an agreement.

The Chinese delegation said that substantial progress was made on such specific issues as technology transfer, protection of intellectual property rights, non-tariff barriers, service industry, agriculture and exchange rates.

On the basis of the latest progress, the two sides will continue their work for the next stage in accordance with the instructions of the two countries' heads of state, the Chinese delegation added.

U.S. President Donald Trump meets with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He at the White House, February 22‍, 2019. /VCG Photo

The Chinese team is headed by Vice Premier Liu He, who also came as the special envoy of Chinese President Xi Jinping, and the U.S. team is led by Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.

After months of escalating trade frictions with the United States slapping extra tariffs on Chinese imports and China responding with retaliatory measures, Xi and Trump agreed in Argentina that the two countries should strive to reach a mutually beneficial and win-win agreement within 90 days to break the impasse.

In order to realize that goal, Chinese and U.S. trade negotiators have since accelerated their talks. Working-level consultations for the latest round started in Washington on February 19, just days after the sixth round took place in Beijing on February 14-15.

With the just-concluded round counted in, there have been three rounds of talks in less than a month since the end of January, despite the week-long Lunar New Year holiday in China and three-day weekend for Presidents Day in the United States.

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and Jared Kushner, a senior advisor to Trump, are also present at the four-day trade talks in Washington from February 21 to 24. /VCG Photo

The trade standoff has exerted negative impacts on both economies and added much uncertainty to global markets and the world economy.

During a meeting with the U.S. delegation in Beijing following the sixth round of trade talks, Xi once again highlighted the role of cooperation in resolving the economic and trade differences and frictions, and urged negotiators of the two sides to "make persistent efforts" to reach a mutually beneficial deal.

"Cooperation is the best choice for both sides," Xi said, adding that "of course, there are principles in cooperation."

For his part, Trump on Friday met with Liu at the White House, noting that the U.S.-China relationship is extremely important.

He added that "great progress" has been made in the past two days of talks, while there is still work to be done.

Also on Friday, the two sides decided to extend the talks by two days till Sunday.

Trump tweeted on Sunday that he "will be delaying" the increase of tariffs on Chinese imports scheduled for March 1, citing "very productive" trade talks between the two countries.

Source(s): Xinhua News Agency