China, United States agree to hold trade talks, Chinese trade ministry claims
China and the United States have agreed to hold trade talks "at the coming days" to evaluate the progress of their Phase 1 commerce deal six months after it took effect in February, the Chinese trade ministry said on Thursday.
Ministry spokesman Gao Feng made the remarks at a weekly briefing held online, but did not elaborate.
They followed Tuesday's remarks by White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows no new high-level trade discussions were scheduled, although both sides were in touch about implementing the Stage 1 bargain.
The deal, reached on Jan. 15, also viewed as a major breakthrough after a yearlong long trade dispute between the world's two largest markets, set ambitious targets for China to aggressively boost buys of U.S. farm and manufactured products.
But ties quickly soured in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic and China's imposition of a new national security legislation in Hong Kong.
Both sides traded threats and sanctions on individuals and companies, such as Chinese video platform TikTok.
Official data also suggests China's imports of U.S. farm and manufactured goods, energy and services are well behind the rate needed to fulfill a first-year target growth of $77 billion over 2017 purchases.
China's purchases have increased as its market recovers in the year's coronavirus lockdown, however.
On Tuesday, U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters he had postponed an Aug. 15 inspection of the trade pact, in frustration over Beijing's handling of this virus pandemic.
Ministry spokesman Gao Feng made the remarks at a weekly briefing held online, but did not elaborate.
They followed Tuesday's remarks by White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows no new high-level trade discussions were scheduled, although both sides were in touch about implementing the Stage 1 bargain.
The deal, reached on Jan. 15, also viewed as a major breakthrough after a yearlong long trade dispute between the world's two largest markets, set ambitious targets for China to aggressively boost buys of U.S. farm and manufactured products.
But ties quickly soured in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic and China's imposition of a new national security legislation in Hong Kong.
Both sides traded threats and sanctions on individuals and companies, such as Chinese video platform TikTok.
Official data also suggests China's imports of U.S. farm and manufactured goods, energy and services are well behind the rate needed to fulfill a first-year target growth of $77 billion over 2017 purchases.
China's purchases have increased as its market recovers in the year's coronavirus lockdown, however.
On Tuesday, U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters he had postponed an Aug. 15 inspection of the trade pact, in frustration over Beijing's handling of this virus pandemic.
