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2019.02.23 08:27 GMT+8

Trump meets Chinese Vice Premier Liu He, trade talks extend by 2 days

CGTN

U.S. President Donald Trump met with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He at the White House on Friday. 

As the special envoy of Chinese President Xi Jinping, Liu He, who is also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, led the Chinese delegation of the China-U.S. comprehensive economic dialogue for two-day trade talks in Washington from February 21 to 22, the seventh round since last February. 

At the meeting, Liu first conveyed the messages from President Xi to President Trump. 

Xi pointed out that recently the economic and trade teams of China and U.S. have implemented the consensus reached between him and President Trump in Argentina, and conducted intensive economic and trade consultations with positive progress, which receives positive responses from both the two countries and the international community. 

Xi hoped that the two sides will continue to adhere to the principles of mutual respect and win-win cooperation, as a way to achieve a mutually beneficial and win-win agreement, adding he would like to maintain close contact with President Trump through various means.

"As the special envoy of President Xi Jinping, I visited Washington again to further implement the important consensus reached by the two heads of state and push for more progress," said Liu. 

"In the past two days, we have conducted fruitful negotiations and made positive progress in areas of trade balance, agriculture, technology transfer, intellectual property protection and financial services. In the next step, China and the U.S. will redouble their efforts, press ahead with the trade talks and complete the major responsibilities entrusted by the two heads of state," Liu added.

US, China extend trade talks by two days

On the flip side, Trump said he has a close and strong relationship with President Xi, and China-U.S. relationship is extremely important, and the two countries are on good terms. 

He noted the seventh round of high-level economic and trade talks has made tremendous progress, yet there is still a lot of work to be done. To this end, the two sides have decided to extend this round of trade talks for two days.

The U.S. is willing to work with China to push for more fruitful results through the consultations, and the two sides will eventually strike a deal that is meaningful and beneficial to both countries, according to Trump.

The president also said he is looking forward to meeting with President Xi again in the near future to witness the historic moment of China-U.S. economic and trade relations.

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and Jared Kushner, a senior advisor to Trump, were also present at the meeting.

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