Chinese Vice Premier Liu He (R) with United States Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer (2nd L) and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin (L) before the start of talks at the Xijiao Conference Center in Shanghai on July 31, 2019. Ng Han Guan | AFP | Getty Images

U.S. and Chinese negotiators wrapped up a brief round of trade talks on Wednesday that Beijing described as "constructive," including discussion of further purchases of American farm goods and an agreement to reconvene in September. The first face-to-face trade talks since a ceasefire was agreed last month amounted to a working dinner on Tuesday at Shanghai's historic Fairmont Peace Hotel and a half-day meeting on Wednesday, before U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin flew out. "Both sides, according to the consensus reached by the two leaders in Osaka, had a candid, highly effective, constructive and deep exchange on major trade and economic issues of mutual interest," China's Commerce Ministry said in a statement shortly after the U.S. team left Shanghai. The statement said negotiators discussed more Chinese purchases of agricultural products from the United States, which had become a bone of contention after U.S. President Donald Trump said China had not delivered on promised purchases. The talks began amid low expectations, with Trump on Tuesday accusing Beijing on Twitter of stalling, and warning of a worse outcome for China if it continued to do so. On Wednesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said that she was not aware of the latest developments during the talks, but that it was clear it was the United States that continued to "flip flop."

"I believe it doesn't make any sense for the U.S. to exercise its campaign of maximum pressure at this time," Hua told a news briefing in response to a question about the tweets. "It's pointless to tell others to take medication when you're the one who is sick," she said. The two sides will reconvene in September in the United States, the Commerce Ministry said. The U.S. side did not make an immediate statement.

Early finish

The protracted trade war between the world's two largest economies has disrupted global supply chains and shaken financial markets as each side has slapped tariffs on billions of dollars of each other's goods. An official Chinese government survey released on Wednesday showed factory activity shrank for the third month in a row in July, underlining the growing strains the row has placed on the No. 2 economy. The Shanghai talks were expected to centre on "goodwill" gestures, such as Chinese commitments to purchase U.S. agricultural commodities and steps by the United States to ease some sanctions on Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei Technologies Co Ltd, a person familiar with the discussions told Reuters earlier. Those issues are somewhat removed from the more core U.S. complaints in the trade dispute, including Chinese state subsidies, forced technology transfers and intellectual property violations.

'No deal is fine'