Washington (CNN) The Chinese government has presented an offer to the United States to try to push forward stalled trade talks before the leaders of the two economic superpowers meet at the end of this month, according to two people briefed on the discussions.

The opening bid falls short of many of the core demands the White House has repeatedly detailed as must-haves in trade talks with Beijing, including addressing technology transfers and intellectual property theft, according to one of the people briefed. Instead, the proposal has been described as a rehash of previous commitments Chinese leaders have publicly announced, like selectively lifting tariffs.

"What they are offering is not new," this person said. "I think the two sides remain at an impasse. The channels are now open again, but there's a lot of work to get to — whether it's a modest de-escalation or ceasefire."

Beijing's proposal comes after US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He spoke by phone on Friday to jump start trade discussions ahead of an expected meeting between the two countries' leaders. US President Donald Trump has said he will have a "good meeting" with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, on the sidelines of the G20 leaders summit in Buenos Aires later this month.

Asked about the offer at a weekly news briefing in Beijing on Thursday, Chinese Commerce Ministry spokesman Gao Feng would only reiterate comments from earlier in the week that "high-level communications on the economic and trade front have resumed" following a phone conversation between Trump and Xi two weeks ago.

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