CHINA and the US hope to resolve their escalating trade war before Presidents Xi Jinping and Donald Trump meet at the G20 summit on November 30 in Argentina. The two have not met since late 2017, reported The Wall Street Journal.
Chinese Commerce Vice-Minister Wang Shouwen is visiting Washington to kick start bilateral talks that have stalled since June. The talks with US Treasury Undersecretary David Malpass on August 22 and 23 are likely to pave the way for higher level talks and may even set the stage for the expected November meeting between Mr Trump and Mr Xi.
Analysts said that in light of the choice of Mr Wang and his US counterpart, both of whom are relatively junior officials, further preparations would be needed to ensure that a possible Xi-Trump meeting would materialise, reported SCMP.
China expert Cheng Li at the Brookings Institution in Washington said Mr Xi, who has been under immense domestic pressure over the rapid deterioration in relations with the US, was more willing to get back to negotiating table than Mr Trump.
'We're talking to China, they very much want to talk,' Mr Trump said during a cabinet meeting last week at the White House. 'They just are not able to give us an agreement that is acceptable, so we're not going to do any [trade] deal until we get one that's fair to our country.'
Chinese Commerce Vice-Minister Wang Shouwen is visiting Washington to kick start bilateral talks that have stalled since June. The talks with US Treasury Undersecretary David Malpass on August 22 and 23 are likely to pave the way for higher level talks and may even set the stage for the expected November meeting between Mr Trump and Mr Xi.
Analysts said that in light of the choice of Mr Wang and his US counterpart, both of whom are relatively junior officials, further preparations would be needed to ensure that a possible Xi-Trump meeting would materialise, reported SCMP.
China expert Cheng Li at the Brookings Institution in Washington said Mr Xi, who has been under immense domestic pressure over the rapid deterioration in relations with the US, was more willing to get back to negotiating table than Mr Trump.
'We're talking to China, they very much want to talk,' Mr Trump said during a cabinet meeting last week at the White House. 'They just are not able to give us an agreement that is acceptable, so we're not going to do any [trade] deal until we get one that's fair to our country.'