US, China to hold key trade talks on January 7-8

Beijing, Jan 5: After a tough 2018 when they mostly targeted and counter-targeted each other, the world's two largest economies - US and China - are looking at more reconciliation in the trade arena in 2019. The two sides are set to hold vice-ministerial level negotiations on January 7 and 8, China's Ministry of Commerce said on Friday, January 4.

The ministry said in a statement on its website that a working team led by Deputy US Trade Representative Jeffrey Gerrish will arrive in China to have "positive and constructive discussions" with his Chinese counterparts.

This will be the first one-to-one talks since US President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping agreed to a 90-day truce in trade war on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Buenos Aires in Argentina in December.

The US and China face a March deadline for talks to end the trade war or the former could go ahead with a sharp hike in US tariffs on Chinese goods that were originally set for January 1 with Beijing retaliating against it, Reuters reported.

The US president said the talks towards the deal are going well though it is unclear whether Beijing would yield to key American demands over trade imbalances, market access and alleged abuses of intellectual property by the Chinese.