China, US ‘less belligerent, more cordial’ as delegation heads to Washington before Liu He
- Commerce Vice-Minister Wang Shouwen and Finance Vice-Minister Liao Min are expected to arrive in the US on Monday, Bloomberg reports
- Both sides appear committed to reaching a deal before March 1, analysts say
China and the United States appear committed to reaching a deal before March 1, when the trade war truce ends, even if they have not resolved differences over key issues such as forced technology transfers and Beijing’s state subsidies, analysts say.
That delegation – led by Commerce Vice-Minister Wang Shouwen and Finance Vice-Minister Liao Min, two of Liu’s English-speaking aides – is expected to arrive in Washington on Monday to lay the groundwork for those talks, Bloomberg reported on Friday, citing sources.
The visit comes as staffing levels in the US administration, including the Office of the US Trade Representative, are down to a minimum amid a government shutdown.
China’s commerce ministry, which is coordinating the trade talks, has yet to confirm Wang’s trip to Washington. But ministry spokesman Gao Feng on Thursday denied reports that the US had rejected the visit by Chinese deputy ministers, saying Beijing and Washington were in “intense communication” over Liu’s trip. He said the trade talks at the end of the month aimed to “implement the important consensus reached by the two countries’ leaders”, referring to the agreement reached by Chinese President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Donald Trump in Argentina on December 1.
