Donald Trump tweeted that the talks in Beijing had been ‘going very well’ as they were extended for a third, unscheduled day

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

The United States and China continued trade talks in Beijing for an unscheduled third day amid signs of progress on issues including purchases of US farm and energy commodities and increased access to China’s markets.

The talks went “just fine” said Ted McKinney, US under secretary of agriculture for trade and foreign agricultural affairs, without giving further details. The US delegation heads home on Wednesday night.

McKinney’s upbeat assessment comes after US president Donald Trump tweeted on Tuesday evening that “Talks with China are going very well!”

People familiar with the talks said the world’s two largest economies remained divided on Chinese structural reforms the Trump administration was demanding in order to stop alleged theft and forced transfer of US technology and on how to hold Beijing to its promises.

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Hopes that the US and China would strike a deal, ending their months-long trade deal led to an index of world stocks rising on Tuesday, while the dollar, which hit an 11-week low on Monday, rebounded as the euro weakened on concerns about a slowdown in the euro zone economy.

This week’s meetings are the first face-to-face talks since Trump and Chinese president Xi Jinping agreed in December to a 90-day truce in a trade war that has roiled global financial markets.

If no deal is reached by 2 March, Trump has said he will proceed with raising tariffs to 25% from 10% on $200bn worth of Chinese imports at a time when China’s economy is slowing significantly.

Trade and concerns over slowing economic growth triggered a selloff at the end of 2018 that culminated in Wall Street posting its worst monthly performance in about a decade in December, driving down earnings estimates and stock valuations.

The editor-in-chief of China’s state-run Global Times tabloid, Hu Xijin, said on Twitter earlier that the extension of the talks, originally scheduled for two days, “sends a signal. The two sides are in serious talks and working hard to solve the disagreements between them.”

In what is widely seen as a goodwill gesture, China on Tuesday issued long-awaited approvals for the import of five genetically modified crops, which could boost its purchases of US grains as farmers decide which crops to plant in the spring.

On Monday, Chinese importers made another large purchase of US soybeans, their third in the past month.

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Increased purchases by China of US soybeans, oil, liquefied natural gas and financial services are viewed as easier to achieve than major changes to China’s industrial policies aimed at transferring US technology to Chinese firms.

“Overall the talks have been constructive. Our sense is that there’s good progress on the purchase piece,” said one person familiar with the talks. The person added that it was more difficult to determine how to hold China to its commitments to better protect intellectual property.

Scott Kennedy, director of the Project on Chinese Business and Political Economy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, said the two sides for the first time were discussing topics that matter most to the Trump administration. These include expanded Chinese purchases of American products, greater protections for US intellectual property, constraints on Chinese industrial policy, and enforcement and verification of follow-through by China.

“The minimum baseline for judging whether this week is a success is whether they can have an in-depth conversation on those areas,” Kennedy said, adding that an announcement of another round of talks would be a positive outcome.