China Vice Premier Liu He has had a telephone conversation with U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai and described the talks as "candid, pragmatic and constructive," reports said Thursday. It was their first communication since the Joe Biden administration took power.
The trade chiefs said they discussed the importance of the ties between China and the U.S. The Donald Trump administration took an aggressive stance toward China and during a resulting trade conflict.
The conversation is one of the few top-level discussions between the two sides since Joe Biden took office in January. Other officials had a bitter meeting in Alaska in March.
Ahead of the talks Tai said the U.S. still faced "very large challenges" in its trade relationship with China. The dispute under Trump saw tariffs imposed on many products traded between the U.S. and China.
Dr. Wang Huiyao, president of the Center for China and Globalization, a Beijing-based non-governmental think-tank, said the phone call was a positive signal and a sign of goodwill that both sides wanted to get down to business, The Straits Times said.
According to Gao Feng, Chinese Ministry of Commerce representative, both China and the U.S. should push for the implementation of the Phase One trade deal. It is good for China, the U.S. and the whole world, Gao said.
The trade accord should be viewed in the context of the "overall U.S.-China trade and economic relationship" which is "very, very challenging," Tai told Reuters in an interview Wednesday.
Meanwhile, China was the only economy to see its international trade grow in 2020 as it became the first large country to emerge from the global health crisis.
Sales of China-made products have risen as demand from the U.S. rose and the COVID-19 crisis in India stalled much of its factory production, according to the BBC.
