China-U.S. consultations underway in Beijing

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Trade talks between China and the U.S. have entered their second day in Beijing. The two countries said they would aim to eliminate all additional tariffs.

The Chinese Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) said that this round of talks between China and the U.S. is focusing on intellectual property rights protection, technology cooperation, market access, trade balance as well as discussions of agricultural products, energy and automobiles. According to the ministry, these topics are aligned with China's push for deepened reforms and opening-up.

The ministry also said that the talks will be based on equality and mutual respect and benefits, stressing that the negotiations are not a zero-sum game, and that China and the U.S. have enormous common interests.

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Meanwhile, a variety of international institutions are concerned that negative impacts of the trade tensions are increasingly weighing on growth.

The World Bank said that as international trade and financial conditions have become less supportive, its projections for the world and developing economies' GDP growth in 2019 are three and six percent respectively.

The Asian Development Bank claimed that because of trade tensions and tight global liquidity, it projects the 2019 growth rate for Asia and China to be 5.8 percent and 6.3 percent, respectively. The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences forecasted that China's GDP growth would be slightly higher at 6.4 percent in 2019, lower than expected mostly due to trade tensions.

(CGTN's Ge Lin and Wu Zheyu also contributed to the story.)