STILL suspicious, but buoyed by an upturn in the Chinese stock market after the Trump-Xi trade talks at the G20 summit, China trade watchers contacted by Forbes were positive about the outcome.
They noted a change in the tone from the G20, reported America's Forbes magazine, saying the contending parties favoured engagement over confrontation.
'The prospects for real progress on substantive issues with China are now better than at any point in the Trump administration,' says Andy Rothman, investment strategist for Matthews Asia.
'I think the odds of after-dinner success are pretty good, given the very positive spin that Trump put on the meeting,' said Mr Rothman.
'It will likely provide a short-term boost to business and investor confidence in both countries though Hong Kong investor confidence was at its lowest level since 2009,' said Forbes, quoting the South China Morning Post.
'The White House has backed away from a full blown war,' said Mike Reynal, a portfolio manager at Sophus Capital in Des Moines. 'Trump has approved new trade deals with Korea and Japan and the agreements tend to work out in the end, allowing for both parties to participate.'
The dinner meeting between President Donald Trump and President Xi Jinping yielded an agreement to enter into negotiations immediately.
'The ceasefire, initiated by Xi, led Trump to agree not to raise tariffs to 25 per cent from 10 per cent on US$250 billion of Chinese imports, conditional on the outcome of the upcoming negotiations,' said the Forbes report.
Said BNP Paribas economist Andrew Schneider: 'The deal signals a higher chance than before of a more durable agreement, but the scope of the issues at hand suggests considerable uncertainty will persist.'
London's Economist Intelligence Unit called the changes 'cosmetic', adding that they come without yet addressing many of the issues underlying the frictions between Washington and Beijing.
The crux of the friction centres around technology transfers in joint ventures between foreign companies and mainland Chinese entities. Not to mention outright theft of intellectual property, something China denies.
From Washington's point of view, China's technological advances are because they have either spied on American tech companies, or the state owned enterprises partnering with Americans in JVs gave tech secrets to the government. This view remains a head-scratcher to the Chinese government.
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They noted a change in the tone from the G20, reported America's Forbes magazine, saying the contending parties favoured engagement over confrontation.
'The prospects for real progress on substantive issues with China are now better than at any point in the Trump administration,' says Andy Rothman, investment strategist for Matthews Asia.
'I think the odds of after-dinner success are pretty good, given the very positive spin that Trump put on the meeting,' said Mr Rothman.
'It will likely provide a short-term boost to business and investor confidence in both countries though Hong Kong investor confidence was at its lowest level since 2009,' said Forbes, quoting the South China Morning Post.
'The White House has backed away from a full blown war,' said Mike Reynal, a portfolio manager at Sophus Capital in Des Moines. 'Trump has approved new trade deals with Korea and Japan and the agreements tend to work out in the end, allowing for both parties to participate.'
The dinner meeting between President Donald Trump and President Xi Jinping yielded an agreement to enter into negotiations immediately.
'The ceasefire, initiated by Xi, led Trump to agree not to raise tariffs to 25 per cent from 10 per cent on US$250 billion of Chinese imports, conditional on the outcome of the upcoming negotiations,' said the Forbes report.
Said BNP Paribas economist Andrew Schneider: 'The deal signals a higher chance than before of a more durable agreement, but the scope of the issues at hand suggests considerable uncertainty will persist.'
London's Economist Intelligence Unit called the changes 'cosmetic', adding that they come without yet addressing many of the issues underlying the frictions between Washington and Beijing.
The crux of the friction centres around technology transfers in joint ventures between foreign companies and mainland Chinese entities. Not to mention outright theft of intellectual property, something China denies.
From Washington's point of view, China's technological advances are because they have either spied on American tech companies, or the state owned enterprises partnering with Americans in JVs gave tech secrets to the government. This view remains a head-scratcher to the Chinese government.
WORLD SHIPPING