China-US Trade Tensions: Communication helps close gaps in trade talks

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02:32

The 10th U.S.-China CEO and Former Senior Officials' Dialogue happens at a special time when a high level delegation led by Chinese Vice Premier Liu He starts visiting Washington for crucial trade talks.

WANG RENGZHONG, FORMER CHINESE AMBASSADOR TO THE US "When the Vice Premier agrees to return to Washington for more talks, that shows we are quite close to a deal. As a matter of fact, I understand talks at the working level have been going on for quite a while."

The bright mood comes after U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday indicated in a tweet that he's considering easing up on Chinese telecom giant ZTE. It's a move seen as a sign to alleviate trade tensions and is welcomed by China.

ZHANG XIAOQIANG, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, CHINA CENTER FOR INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC EXCHANGES "President Trump's tweet on ZTE, I think it showed an important attitude from the U.S. side."

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, representing the American business community, says levying punitive tariffs on one another is the wrong answer to trade disputes.

THOMAS DONOHUE, PRESIDENT & CEO, US CHAMBER OF COMMERCE "The focus must be on opening markets, eliminating subsidies, and ending regulations that are increasingly designed to frustrate competition. Just because there are challenges in relationship, doesn't mean mutually beneficial commercial deals can't be successfully negotiated."

There are also cautious voices on the second round of trade talks.

ZHANG XIAOQIANG, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, CHINA CENTER FOR INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC EXCHANGES "Because this trade and economic issues are relatively large, we can't expect one or two rounds of discussion to resolve all the problems. We need to identify priority issues and take reasonable measures to solve them one by one."

ZHENG JUNFENG, BEIJING "From phone calls between the two presidents, to discussions between delegations, to dialogues like this between company CEOs, China and the U.S. are communicating at every level, to try to avoid a trade war that could prove excessively costly for everyone. Zheng Junfeng, CGTN, Beijing."