China’s top US trade war negotiator sidesteps growth risks as Beijing digs in for extended battle
- Vice-Premier Liu He tells a symposium of local government officials and business delegates from China’s export bases that the current economic pressure is ‘normal’
- Xi Jinping’s top trade negotiator spoke with his US counterparts on Tuesday in the first talks since the G20 summit truce agreed with US President Donald Trump
China’s economic performance in the first half of 2019 is in line with expectations, according to Vice-Premier Liu He, with Beijing seeking to shore up confidence as it digs in for a potentially protracted trade war with the United States.
“Macroeconomic indicators of growth, employment and consumer prices are all in normal ranges,” said Liu, the top economic aide to President Xi Jinping and China’s top negotiator in trade talks with the Trump administration, according to the official state-run Xinhua News Agency.
“The downward pressure on the economy is the result of cyclical, institutional and structural factors. It’s a normal phenomena in the development of the economy.
“The key to countering a variety of risks and challenges [to the economy] is to do our own things well.”
Liu did not specifically mention the trade war with the US at a symposium of local government officials and business delegates from China’s export bases in provinces of Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Guangdong, Henan as well as the city of Shanghai on Thursday, but his comments are seen as a reassurance to not be afraid of an extended trade conflict and to focus on domestic economic issues.
