Hamburger and stir-fry diplomacy: how China and the United States showed goodwill in trade war talks
- Senior Chinese official says delegations from both countries are working around the clock for a deal to scrap extra duties on billions of dollars in imports
- Vice commerce minister does not respond to question about whether expected summit between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping has been delayed
Trade talks in Washington last month were so intense that Chinese Vice-Premier Liu He and US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer had to skip the usual formal lunch one day and dine in on takeaway, a Chinese official has revealed for the first time.
Vice commerce minister Wang Shouwen, a member of the Chinese delegation, said on Saturday that both sides pressed on with the negotiations for four days – through the weekend, heavy snow and a US government shutdown.
In a gesture of goodwill and desire for common ground, the heads of the two delegations ordered food representative of the other’s culture.
“Vice-Premier Liu He had a hamburger and Lighthizer had stir-fried chicken with eggplant. Neither of them had coffee or tea, but drank boiled water. You have to look for common ground,” Wang said in Beijing on the sidelines of the annual gathering of China’s peak legislative and advisory bodies.
“One day [in Washington] it was snowing and the US government had closed. But the commerce and trade delegations were still negotiating. The negotiations were also extended from two days to four days.”
Wang said both sides were working on an agreement to eliminate extra Chinese and US tariffs imposed since the start of a trade war between the two countries last year.
