China says meeting with US on trade in January

Representatives from China and the US are planning to meet in January to negotiate an agreement on putting an end to the trade war between the two countries, the Chinese Commerce Ministry said on Thursday.

Ministry spokesperson Gao Feng said at a press conference here that both countries were finalising the details of the meeting.

China and the US have made specific arrangements to hold face-to-face discussions in addition to the intensive telephone conversations they have been having, Gao was cited as saying by Efe news.

The two countries have been in close communication even during the holiday period, he said.

The Ministry in a statement on December 24 had said China and the US made vice-ministerial calls twice and "exchanged views on issues of common concerns such as trade balance and strengthening intellectual property protection with new progress achieved".

Chinese President Xi Jinping and his American counterpart Donald Trump agreed to a 90-day truce during a dinner meeting held on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Argentinian capital Buenos Aires on December 1.

Since then, China has cut tariffs on vehicles imported from the US, resumed the purchase of soya from the North American country and submitted a draft law to prohibit forced technology transfers.

On his part, Trump temporarily suspended the planned increase in tariffs (from 10 per cent to 25 per cent) on Chinese goods worth $200 billion with a warning he would go ahead with it if a trade agreement was not sealed before the 90-day deadline.

However, negotiations could be affected due to the diplomatic row that has erupted following the arrest of Huawei's Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou in Canada at the US' request for allegedly violating sanctions against Iran.

--IANS

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