Todd Bishop
US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, Finance Minister Steven Mnuchin and China-US Comprehensive Economic Dialogue Chinese leader Liu He talked on the 24th. This “late” call is enough to see the urgency of the Sino-US trade negotiations.
When the hour hand is back to a week ago, let’s take a look at the “signs” before the call between Wright Heze and Liu He.
On June 18th, US President Donald Trump broke the deadlock and called Chinese President Xi Jinping. He sent a Twitter confirmation that the heads of state of China and the United States will hold an extended meeting during the G20 Osaka Summit. The respective trade teams of China and the United States will start talks in advance. Subsequently, the Chinese official confirmed the news and quoted Xi Jinping as saying that he was willing to meet with Trump and would exchange views on the fundamental issues concerning the development of Sino-US relations.
On June 19, the day after the call, the US Trade Representative Wright Heze said in a testimony in Congress that he will be the Chinese leader in the US-China trade negotiations and the vice-president of the State Council in the “next day and a half”. Prime Minister Liu Hetong telephoned that he is expected to meet with US Treasury Secretary Mnuchin before the meeting between the two heads of state at the G20 summit in Osaka.
On June 20, Xi Jinping made his first state visit to the DPRK. This is also the first visit of the Chinese President to the DPRK in 14 years.
On June 24th, the three ministries and commissions of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Finance jointly held a G20 Chinese and foreign media briefing. Among them, Wang Shouwen, the main negotiator of Sino-US trade, paid an important speech. On behalf of China, he stated his official position, saying that both China and the United States should make concessions. Western mainstream media have reprinted and heatedly debated, which is also seen as the second shift in Western trade attitudes toward China and the United States.
On June 25, the Chinese official media Xinhua News Agency said that the Chinese Political Bureau member, the country’s vice premier, and the Chinese leader of the China-US comprehensive economic dialogue, Liu He, on the 24th, “reserved” with US trade representative Wright Heze and finance minister Mnuchin call. However, as of press time, no news has been published on the official US website.
