China, US reach framework on trade

China's vice-commerce minister said on Tuesday that the Chinese and the US negotiating teams had agreed to a framework on trade after two days of "rational, in depth and candid" talks and would take those results back to their respective presidents. (Video)

"The two sides have, in principle, reached a framework for implementing the consensus reached by the two heads of state during the phone call on June 5 and the consensus reached at the Geneva meeting," Vice-Commerce Minister Li Chenggang told reporters in London after talks that went almost to midnight.

"In the past two days, both teams have had very in-depth exchanges. Our communication has been very professional, rational, in-depth and candid," said Li, who is also China's international trade representative.

"We hope that the progress we made in this London meeting is capable of increasing trust between China and the United States, to further promoting stable and sound development of China-US trade and economic relations and also to inject positive energy into world economic development," Li added.

Vice-Premier He Lifeng, who is also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, attended the meeting with US representatives, including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer. Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao participated in Monday's talks as well.

"I think we have the two largest economies in the world have reached a handshake … for a framework," Lutnick told reporters. "We're going to start to implement that framework upon the approval of President Trump, and the Chinese will get their President Xi's approval. "And that's the process, so once the presidents approve it, we will then seek to implement it."

"When you put President Xi and President Trump on the phone together, it changes the outcome," Lutnick told reporters of the June 5 phone call. "Both sides had extra impetus in order to get things done because we both have our presidents behind us, pushing us to make sure we take care of our respective sides."

He said that implementation of the May 12 Geneva agreement "was going too slowly, too painfully" before the presidents' phone call.

Lutnick said the framework is "really beneficial to the United States of America; it's really beneficial to the Chinese and the China economy".

"We will seek to grow our trading between the two countries," Lutnick said. He said the US wanted to grow its trade to reduce its trade deficit with China in a "positive way".

Lutnick said the US "absolutely expects" that the issue of export licenses for rare earth minerals and magnets from China to the US will be resolved, and the US in turn would lift some restrictions on tech exports to China.

China and the United States held the talks under the China-US economic and trade consultation mechanism, signaling the willingness of the world's two largest economies to sort out differences through equal dialogue, analysts said.

A mutually beneficial solution to a broader negotiation agenda can foster favorable conditions for normal economic and trade activities between the two countries, and make greater contributions to global economic recovery and growth, they said.

The analysts added that they expected the meeting, which came after Beijing and Washington agreed to a 90-day pause of triple-digit tariffs in May in Geneva, Switzerland, to go beyond tariff talks this time to include discussions on additional topics.

Chen Wenling, former chief economist at the China Center for International Economic Exchanges, said, "The significance of the China-US consultations lies not only in the specific outcomes achieved, but in the world's two largest economies' reaffirmation of the path of equal dialogue to resolve differences."

Economic and trade ties still remain "the ballast and stabilizer" of China-US relations, Chen said, stressing that holding the meeting is beneficial for avoiding the escalation of trade friction and for steadying the ship of bilateral ties, as well as for expanding cooperation.

Chen said, "The manner in which China and the US manage their differences and expand mutually beneficial collaboration will largely shape the trajectory of the global economy and trade."

"There is a global expectation that China and the US should demonstrate the wisdom and responsibility to keep their economic ties on a stable and constructive path, which would greatly benefit the world economy," Chen added.

Michael Hart, president of the American Chamber of Commerce in China, said: "We believe that the US and China should continue to trade with each other."

Hart said he hopes to see the "tariffs as low as possible and trade as open as possible".

He noted that there are plenty of areas in which the US and China could cooperate, and said that China continues to be a place with advanced manufacturing and a strong supply base, while the US has a strong agricultural sector that needs exports to China.

"US companies want to make sure they have access to as many customers in China as possible, and they, in general, continue to see China as a positive market," Hart said. "It's in our best interests that the governments find a way to cooperate."

Zhou Mi, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, said, "If the US can heed market voices and reduce trade restrictions against China, China-US bilateral trade will be imbued with tremendous vitality, and there is hope for a significant increase in US exports to China."

wangkeju@chinadaily.com.cn