Sino-US talks expected to help build up consensus

The upcoming economic and trade meeting between senior officials of China and the United States in Britain will serve as an important step in realizing and building on the bilateral consensus reached at last month's talks in Geneva, Switzerland, and the latest phone call between the two heads of state, analysts said.

The upcoming dialogue will also be indispensable for crisis management in bilateral relations and for meeting global expectations, they added.

Vice-Premier He Lifeng, at the invitation of the British government, will visit the United Kingdom from Sunday to Friday, the Foreign Ministry announced on Saturday night.

"While in the UK, he will hold the first meeting of the China-US economic and trade consultation mechanism with the US side," the ministry said in the brief announcement.

The mechanism was set up as part of a consensus reached during the high-level China-US economic and trade talks held in Geneva last month.

The Geneva talks were held between He, the Chinese lead person for China-US trade and economic affairs, and US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.

According to the joint statement issued on May 12 following the talks, the China-US economic and trade consultation mechanism's discussions will be led by He, Bessent and Greer, and "may be conducted alternately in China and the US, or a third country upon agreement of the parties".

Wu Xinbo, dean of Fudan University's Institute of International Studies, said the upcoming meeting in the UK is key to carrying forward what has been achieved in Geneva, as well as to the momentum in resolving divergence on economic and trade issues, and the US should honor its commitment and avoid taking more hostile steps against China.

Wu said that recently, "some people in the US, especially those in the business community, are worried and anxious about the development of China-US ties, and they have been hoping to strengthen communication and dialogue with Beijing".

"People should keep tracking whether the US can refrain from rolling out further hostile measures to suppress China in areas such as the export of chips and airplane engines to China," he said.

According to China's General Administration of Customs, the total trade volume between China and the US reached nearly $688.3 billion last year, a year-on-year increase of 3.7 percent.

During a phone conversation with US President Donald Trump on Thursday evening, President Xi Jinping said that "both sides should make good on the agreement reached in Geneva".

Trump said the Geneva talks produced a good deal, and the US will work with China to execute the deal, according to a Foreign Ministry readout.

Diao Daming, a professor of US studies at Renmin University of China's School of International Studies, said that head-of-state diplomacy continues to play a crucial role in navigating China-US ties.

"Washington wants to push for progress through interaction with the Chinese side, and its sense of urgency, to some extent, reflects that the US has realized the importance of communication with the Chinese side," he said.

At the 2025 China-California Business Forum on June 2, Guo Shaochun, Chinese consul general in Los Angeles, said that China-US economic and trade cooperation is essentially beneficial to both sides, and "the success of China and the US is an opportunity for each other".

Last week, Ministry of Commerce spokeswoman He Yongqian urged the US to fully revoke various restrictive measures against China, including Section 301 tariffs.

Wang Wen, dean of Renmin University of China's Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies, said the China-US relationship is not just about tariffs, but also about the world, all of humanity and the future of the planet.

"We should arrive at a common ground, that is, the relationship between the two major countries should be looked at from a longer-term, broader and more responsible perspective," he said.