China over the weekend ramped-up pressure on President Donald Trump to not impose new tariffs by saying an end to Trump's trade war will ultimately benefit the entire world.
"Stopping the escalation of the trade war benefits China, the U.S, and the whole world. It's what producers and consumers alike are hoping for," said Chinese Vice Premier Liu He, who led China's negotiating team last week.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimates a tentative trade deal reached will reduce the damage to the global economy from China and the United States' tit-for-tat tariffs. It reckons that instead of dragging global growth down by 0.8%, the impact might be limited to 0.6%.
On Saturday, Liu said China will work with the United States to address each other's core concerns -- but only on the basis of equality and mutual respect. Trump must also hold-off on imposing new tariffs set for Dec. 15. China, however, also demands Trump to remove all the tariffs he levied against China since the trade war began 15 months ago.
"The two sides have made substantial progress in many fields, laying an important foundation for the signing of a phased agreement," said Liu to the audience at a virtual reality conference in Nanchang, the capital of Jiangxi province.
Liu said improved trade ties between China and the United States will benefit the world.
"China and the U.S. can meet each other halfway, based on equality and mutual respect, addressing each other's core concerns, striving to create a good environment and achieving both sides' common goals," he said.
Liu also said China will accelerate its investments in core technologies to speed-up economic restructuring.
Liu also said China's economic prospects remain "very bright" despite the country's third-quarter GDP growth falling to 6.0%, its weakest pace in almost three decades.
Previous to Liu's comments, the Ministry of Commerce said China's position, principle or goals as regards the China-U.S. trade deal have never changed.
"Both sides' ultimate goal for the negotiations is to end the trade war, cancel all additional tariffs. This is good for China, good for the U.S and good for the world," said Gao Feng, a ministry spokesman.
Gao said Chinese companies will try to increase the purchase of U.S. agricultural products based on the needs and market-norms in China. He didn't confirm any specific amount in contradiction to Trump (who said the US will purchase $50 million immediately) and only briefly mentioned the matter.
Gao made no mention at all on signing the "phase one" agreement between Xi Jinping and Trump. He did, however, confirm from both sides' negotiators are talking to each other.
There is little chance the U.S. and China will sign an interim trade deal at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Chile in November. Rumors are Trump will only delay some tariffs and while maintaining existing ones.
