Western media upbeat about latest round of Sino-U.S. trade talks

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Western media outlets have struck an upbeat tone when discussing the ongoing trade talks between the world's two largest economies.

“The Trump administration was pleased that the talks were moving forward,” Reuters quoted White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett as saying. Both Chinese and U.S. officials are hopeful that “a new round of talks would bring them closer to easing their seven-month trade war,” the news agency stressed in its report.

The Guardian jocularly described the trade spats as “top strand in the White House soap” and Trump's changed attitude on a potential meeting with his counterpart Xi Jinping is a twist that Wall Street, eager for an end of the trade war, “loved” to watch in the soap.

It's interesting to note that days after Trump, “an actor” in Guardian's words, denied a face-to-face talk with Xi by the deadline, White House adviser Kellyanne Conway confirmed that the President still wants to have a meeting “very soon” to end the trade war.

“He (Trump) has forged a mutually respectful relationship with President Xi… They will meet again soon,” Conway reportedly said. This, according to Bloomberg, is a “sign of optimism” as negotiators start their latest round of talks this week.

Bloomberg further emphasized that the talks are important as “they need to demonstrate credible progress to both the President and financial markets.” The two sides have already started the work of drafting a common document, Bloomberg reported.

U.S. President Donald Trump listens to China's Vice-Premier Liu He during a trade meeting in the Oval Office of the White House, Washington, January 31, 2019. /VCG Photo

The White House is “very much looking forward to what the senior people come up with this week,” Reuters said in its report. Intellectual property “forced” technological transfer and the state's role in the economy are top issues on the negotiating table, and an agreement on these issues, according to Fox Business, would make a fundamental deal easier.

Given the tremendous effects that the Sino-U.S. trade spats are exerting on the market, “there is a sense of urgency to this round [of talks,]” Channel News Asia quoted Jeffrey Halley, the senior market analyst at OANDA.

The stock market has had drastic reactions to headlines concerning the on-again-off-again talks. As the trade negotiations resumed, the Hong Kong shares ended higher on trade optimism, according to another Reuters report. “At the close of trade, the Hang Seng Index was up 0.7 percent, while the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index gained 0.6 percent.”

As the March 1 deadline looms, both China and the United States have a strong motivation to end the multi-lose trade war. “It is now more likely that the two sides will eventually make a deal that would mean a more lasting suspension of new tariffs,” Sian Fenner, senior Asia economist at the British consultancy Oxford Economics, told South China Morning Post.

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