BEIJING (Reuters) -China’s Vice Premier He Lifeng said China and the United States should strengthen consensus and maintain communication, state news agency Xinhua reported on Wednesday, after the two countries agreed to get a delicate trade truce back on track.
U.S. and Chinese officials, including He, concluded two days of negotiations in London on Tuesday to resolve key trade issues in the two superpowers’ bruising tariff war, including on a raft of export control measures that have hobbled global supply chain.
The two sides should use their consultation mechanism to further “build up consensus, reduce misunderstandings and strengthen cooperation”, He was quoted as saying by Xinhua, describing the talks as candid and in-depth.
China and the U.S. should safeguard the hard-won outcome from their dialogue, and push for stable and long-term bilateral trade and economic ties, He said.
China’s stance on trade issues with the U.S. was clear and consistent, He said, reiterating that China was sincere in trade and economic consultations but had its principles.
Beijing and Washington have, after striking a 90-day truce in Geneva last month, suspended most of the triple-digit tariffs they had heaped on each other’s goods. But bilateral ties remain strained over unresolved trade issues such as China’s rare earth export controls and U.S. curbs on chip-related exports.
The London talks took place after a rare phone call between Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who represented the U.S. in London, said the new agreement would remove restrictions on Chinese exports of rare earth minerals and magnets and some of the recent U.S. export restrictions “in a balanced way”, without providing further details.
The two negotiating teams would present the framework to their respective presidents for approval, Lutnick said.
(Reporting by Yukun Zhang and Liz Lee; Editing by Andrew Heavens and Alex Richardson)
