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Frank Tang

Beijing and Washington held a call on Friday to discuss bilateral trade and economic ties, as a variety of practical issues – from soybean orders to computer chips – remain problematic despite the trade truce in October.
Chinese Vice-Premier He Lifeng’s video call with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer was part of a bilateral negotiation mechanism started this year to address issues between the world’s two largest economies.
The two sides had “in-depth and constructive” exchanges, Xinhua, China’s official news agency, said.
Both the US Treasury and the Office of the US Trade Representative didn’t immediately reply to the Post’s request for comments.
According to Xinhua, both sides agreed to promote the stable development of bilateral trade and economic ties, and “expand the list for cooperation and shorten the list of problems”.


The continued positive negotiations and decrease in bilateral tension come after the meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump in South Korea in late October.
The two countries have reached a one-year tariff truce and a pause on export control. However, many details, including the sale of the US operations of social video app TikTok, soybean purchases and chip sales to China, remain undisclosed.
Speaking at Thursday’s American Growth Summit in Washington, Greer said the US had prioritised a stable trade dynamic instead of economic conflict with China.
“We want to make sure that China is buying the kinds of things from us we should be selling them: aircraft, chemicals, medical devices and agricultural products,” he was quoted by Bloomberg as saying. “We can buy things from them that are not sensitive.”
Greer reiterated that the US government has leverage over China in certain areas, including software and semiconductors.
“However, the decision right now is we want to have stability in this relationship,” he added.
As the discussions over China’s economic rise dominate in Washington, pressure is mounting on the Trump administration to suspend high-end chip sales to China.
On Wednesday, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang met separately with President Trump and Republican senators to discuss policies for the artificial intelligence industry.
“We need to be able to compete around the world. The one thing we can’t do is degrade the chips that we sell to China. They won’t accept that,” Huang told reporters before his meeting on Capitol Hill.
“There’s a reason why they wouldn’t accept that, and so we should offer the most competitive chips we can to the Chinese market.”




China look to uphold their end of the bargain with US
China, on the other hand, has begun to honour its promises made in the trade deal.
Its approval of rare earth licenses, a major market focus after Beijing’s export control constraints, has accelerated, as increased soybean orders have been placed to American farmers amid the pledged annual purchase of 12 million tons.
On Thursday, a trade delegation representing the semi-official China Council for the Promotion of International Trade met with the US Soybean Export Council in Washington, where they discussed bilateral trade and potential cooperation in third countries.
Participants included executives of China Oil and Foodstuffs Corporation, a state-owned giant that often buys American soybeans in bulk.
“If China comes through with the 12 million metric tons and then the 25 million metric tons, that will actually help shore up the market. So we’re very hopeful that all that happens,” said Mike McCranie, vice chair of the US Soybean Export Council.
“I personally don’t think we can replace China, not in the market, not on a world scale.”
President Xi and President Trump are expected to meet four times next year, including mutual state visits, as well as occasions at the Apec summit in Shenzhen and the G20 summit in Miami.
Last week, the two top leaders had a phone call to discuss bilateral trade as well as issues concerning Taiwan and Ukraine. Trump later hailed their bilateral ties as “extremely strong” in a social media post.


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Economy, Trade & Business

Both sides agree to promote the development of bilateral trade ties to ‘expand the list for cooperation and shorten the list of problems’


Both sides agree to promote the development of bilateral trade ties to ‘expand the list for cooperation and shorten the list of problems’.


China’s He Lifeng has ‘constructive, in-depth’ call with Trump officials Bessent and Greer

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Both sides agree to promote the development of bilateral trade ties to ‘expand the list for cooperation and shorten the list of problems’

Both sides agree to promote the development of bilateral trade ties to ‘expand the list for cooperation and shorten the list of problems’