China says ‘new progress’ has been made in US trade war talks
- Commerce ministry says meeting included ‘deep exchanges’ on intellectual property and the trade balance – two key US concerns
China and US held a fresh round of trade talks last week and achieved “new progress”, China’s Ministry of Commerce said on Sunday.
According to a statement on the ministry’s website, the two sides held “vice-ministerial” level talks in a teleconference on Friday.
These included “deep exchanges” over issues such as the trade balance and intellectual property – two key US grievances – without elaborating further or naming the participants.
It also said that the two sides have discussed the arrangements for the next round of talks.
Friday’s talks followed an earlier round on Wednesday, which were announced in a brief online statement released by the ministry on the day without providing further details.
The United States has yet to officially comment on the latest round of talks, so the decision by Beijing to publish the statement first suggests that it is trying to be more proactive in shaping the narrative by disclosing more information.
