A US trade and business delegation from Chicago led by the Mayor of the city has come to China for a forum in Beijing. The two sides discussed how to improve cooperation and signed new deals amid the current trade tensions. NATASHA HUSSEIN has the details.

The Chicago delegation comes at an interesting time when the US has just announced a new round of tariffs on 200 billion US dollars worth of Chinese goods. The Chinese Assistant Minister of Commerce expressed concerns about the current world trade environment and appreciation for those who believe in the Chinese market.

LI CHENGGANG ASSISTANT MINISTER OF COMMERCE "The current US policies are disrupting the progress of economic globalization and the world economic order. Imposing tariffs has forced companies to bear immense pressure. The current world trade and investment environment is regrettably at its darkest hour because of Washington's policies. 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 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% year on year. Chinese direct investment in the non-financial sector is down by 21.1% year on year. As a result, American business people are facing more uncertainty.

ROBERT CLARY, PARTNER KPMG "Certainly there are a lot of disruption right now between the US and China. I think companies KMPG works with are trying to figure out how to adjust to that disruption. We don't know how its gonna go and how long this disruption is gonna last. 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 government."

RAJ FERNANDO, CEO WORKSTORM "I think no one is really gonna understand in the short term how this is gonna play out. From business side, we'd like cooler head side to prevail. But there are legitimate concerns for these negotiations that need to be addressed. I think in the long term we would like more cooperation and competition between US companies and Chinese companies."

Representatives from Chinese cities and Chicago signed a plan for cooperation for the next five years, and kept things light hearted joking that the weather in Beijing is representative of current relations. Nevertheless, it shows goodwill from both sides to continue cooperating. NATASHA HUSSEIN, CGTN.