A US trade and business delegation from Chicago led by the city's mayor has come to China for a forum in Beijing. The forum aims to facilitate cooperation between the American metropolis and eight Chinese cities, including Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Qingdao, Shenyang, Hangzhou, Wuhan and Chengdu.

Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel says in his speech at the opening of the forum, “Keeping an open, cooperative, and competitive environment is the key for Chicago to become the city that attracts the most foreign investment in the US.”

However, the Chicago delegation does come at an interesting time when the US has just announced a new round of tariffs on 200 billion US dollars' worth of Chinese goods on Tuesday.

The Chinese Assistant Minister of Commerce Li Chenggang expressed concerns about the current world trade environment and appreciation for those who believe in the Chinese market.

"The current world trade and investment environment is regrettably at its darkest hour because of Washington's policies," Li said. “The delegation's visit to China at this time shows that American local governments and business are confident about the prospect of cooperation between the two countries. China appreciates it.”

Trade frictions have already taken a toll on bilateral relations since the US announced its first round of tariffs in March. Growth of Chinese exports to the US in the first half of the year was down by 13.9 percent year-on-year. Meanwhile, Chinese direct investment in the non-financial sector is down by 21.1 percent year-on-year. As a result, American business people are facing more uncertainty, which is something the market hates to see.

"We don't know how it's going to go and how long this disruption caused by the trade friction is going to last," said Robert Clary, a partner of KPMG. “And as we saw today, the change is almost on a daily basis between Washington and Beijing in terms of actions taken by the various governments."

Nonetheless, the event on Wednesday did shine some light on the current strained trade tensions between the world’s two largest economies. Representatives from Chinese cities and Chicago signed a plan for cooperation over the next five years. This comes five years after the two sides signed a memorandum for cooperation, during which time trade volume between China and Chicago increased 100 percent.

The forum goes on with rhetoric and jokes about the heavy rain and overcast weather in Beijing on Wednesday, which is somehow a reflection of the current trade environment between China and the US.