Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday said that phase one economic and trade deal between China and the US does not only benefits the two economic giants but also the whole world.
Xi Jinping spoke to his US counterpart Donald Trump over the phone and noted that the countries have reached the phase-one agreement on the basis of the principle of equality and mutual respect.
Xi Jinping further said that against the backdrop of an extremely complicated international environment, the agreement benefits China, the US, as well as peace and prosperity of the whole world.
In response to that, Trump said that the agreement was good for the two countries and the whole world.
Trump further said that he was looking forward to maintaining regular communication with Xi by various means, a move which was also agreed by Xi.
According to the two countries, the phase one agreement addresses issues including technology transfer, intellectual property, trade expansion and the establishment of mechanisms for dispute resolution.
Last week, an American trade coalition urged President Trump to reach a “phase one” deal with China in an effort to resolve the ongoing trade war between the US and China.
Last month, China and the US were “moving closer to agreeing” on a “phase one” trade deal.
Initially, President Donald Trump had said that he did not yet agree to roll back tariffs. He is expected to have the last word in the United States on terms of any “phase one” deal.
The Chinese government invited United States Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to Beijing for face-to-face talks, the Wall Street Journal reported. Neither the USTR nor Treasury responded to a request for comment.
On Saturday, U.S. National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien said an initial trade deal with China was still possible by the end of the year. He said it would be “a good sign” if the Hong Kong elections took place without violence.
China had called for a rollback of existing tariffs, to which Trump has said he did not agree. American officials want large purchases of US farm exports.
In September, the US had imposed fresh tariffs on $112 billion worth of Chinese imported goods, marking a sharp escalation of the bruising trade war between the world’s two largest economies.
Donald Trump launched the trade war as part of his “America First” bid to lower a wide trade deficit with China, but the tariffs imposed thus far have barely made a dent in that gap.