NO TRADE WAR

Chinese President Xi Jinping’s special envoy and Vice Premier Liu He announced in Washington, DC, on May 19 that China and the United States have reached consensuses on economic and trade issues, pledging to avoid engaging in a trade war.

Liu arrived in Washington on May 15 for economic and trade consultations with the U.S. at the invitation of the U.S.government.

Liu, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chief of the Chinese side of the China-U.S. comprehensive economic dialogue, led a delegation composed of members from major economic sectors of the Chinese government.

In an interview he revealed that the two sides agreed to avoid launching a trade war and to stop slapping tariffs against each other,the most remarkable fruits of the consultations.

Noting that his visit to the United States was positive, pragmatic,constructive and productive, Liu explained that the most important reason for the achievements is the important consensus reached previously by Xi and his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump, and that the fundamental principle was the needs of the two peoples and the whole world.

The two sides will enhance trade cooperation in areas such as energy, agriculture products, healthcare, high-tech products and finance, Liu said.

Such cooperation is a win-win choice because it can promote the high-quality development of the Chinese economy, meet the people’s needs and contribute to the U.S.effort to reduce its trade deficit, he added.

Meanwhile, the two countries will also strengthen cooperation in mutual investment and intellectual property protection, Liu said, adding that it not only benefits the two nations, but also helps support the stability and prosperity of the global economy and trade.

He underlined that China, with a large middle-income population, will soon become the world’s largest market.

The Chinese market will be highly competitive, he said,adding that nations looking to the market have to improve the competitiveness of their products and service to attract Chinese consumers.

China is ready to buy goods not only from the United States but also from around the world, Liu declared.

The Chinese vice premier added that China welcomes all countries to attend the first China International Import Expo to be held in Shanghai in November this year.

Liu also said that China will accelerate implementation of Xi’s proposals at the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2018 in April, at which the Chinese top leader suggested expanding China’s efforts to facilitate market access, build a more attractive investment environment, strengthen intellectual property protection and increase imports from other countries.

China has learned from its past 40 years of reform and opening up that opening-up can promote reform and development, Liu stressed, adding that Beijing will stick to the approach in the future.

It is natural for the two countries to reach consensuses at this time. However, it should be noted that it takes time to resolve the structural problems in the bilateral economic and trade ties, he said.

The healthy development of China-U.S. economic and trade relations is in line with the historical trend, Liu said,adding that the two countries should properly handle their differences through dialogue and stay calm in the future, he asserted.