Todd Bishop
Hong Kong media quoted sources on January 5 reporting that after US President Donald Trump unilaterally announced the signing of a “High Representative” meeting in Beijing on January 15th, the Chinese delegation reorganized its trip to the United States.
The Chinese trade delegation had originally tentatively planned to go to Washington, the United States on January 13, to sign the first phase of the China-US trade agreement. But the South China Morning Post quoted sources who had heard about the briefing as saying they would return on January 16.
Chinese Deputy Prime Minister Liu He originally planned to lead a delegation early in January, but because Trump unexpectedly tweeted on Twitter that he would sign an agreement with a senior representative from Beijing on January 15, China needed to change the itinerary.
It is reported that although both parties are expected to reach the first-phase trade agreement in January, the US leaders are not expected to unilaterally announce the date of signing the contract, or express that he is willing to sign a contract even without Chinese President Xi Jinping. The report said that after a whole afternoon of discussions, China decided to modify their plans to suit Trump.
China and the United States respectively announced on December 13, 2019 that the two sides have reached consensus on the first phase of the trade agreement. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said the two sides had reached a preliminary agreement, and officials from both countries agreed to sign the agreement in the first week of January. The Beijing government did not specify when it wanted to sign, but Liao Min, deputy minister of the Treasury, mentioned at the inter-departmental press conference on the evening of December 13 that the second stage of China-US consultations will depend on the implementation of the first stage, and it is imperative to sign.
