New round of China-U.S. trade talks starts in Washington

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02:17

Negotiators from China and the United States kicked off the seventh round of high-level economic and trade talks in Washington on Thursday.

The opening ceremony of the talks was jointly chaired by Chinese Vice Premier Liu He, who also came as the special envoy of Chinese President Xi Jinping, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.

Liu is also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chief of the Chinese side of the China-U.S. comprehensive economic dialogue.

The two-day talks came on the heels of the just-concluded round held in Beijing from February 14 to 15, and the working-level consultation between the two sides has started earlier on Tuesday.

These discussions aimed to resolve outstanding issues regarding the economic and trade relations between the world's two largest economies, as negotiators of both sides have worked relentlessly to achieve consensus on issues of major concern before March 1.

Chinese Vice Premier Liu He (C), who also comes as the special envoy of Chinese President Xi Jinping, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer (R) and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin co-chair the formal opening of high-level economic and trade talks in Washington D.C., February. 21, 2019. / Xinhua Photo

With the current round counted in, there have been three rounds of talks between the two sides in less than a month, despite the week-long Lunar New Year holidays in China and Washington's Birthday long weekend in the United States.

During the talks last week, the two sides reached consensus in principle on major issues, and had specific discussions about a memorandum of understanding on bilateral economic and trade issues.

After months of escalating trade friction involving massive extra tariffs on imports from each other, Chinese President Xi Jinping and his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump agreed on December 1 that the two countries should manage to reach a mutually beneficial and win-win agreement within 90 days to break the impasse.

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

During a meeting with the U.S. delegation last week, the Chinese president 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.

(With input from Xinhua)