China's Liu He in US this week to sign Phase 1 trade deal: report

Washington

CHINESE Vice-Premier Liu He will visit Washington this week to sign a "Phase 1" trade deal with the United States, the South China Morning Post reported on Monday.

"Washington has sent an invitation and Beijing has accepted it," the SCMP quoted a source as saying.

Representatives for the Office of the US Trade Representative and the White House could not be immediately reached for comment on the report, which said the Chinese delegation was likely to stay in the United States until the middle of next week, Reuters reported.

Neither side has released many specific details of the agreement, and no text has been released.

Hopes for a US-China trade deal helped keep world stocks positive on Monday.

US President Donald Trump first announced plans for the initial trade pact in October, and US and Chinese negotiators have spent weeks finalising the so-called Phase 1 deal, which comes in lieu of the massive trade agreement that the world's two largest economies had sought.

US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said this month that representatives from both countries would sign the pact during the first week of January.

Last week, Mr Trump told reporters at his resort in Florida that he and Chinese President Xi Jinping would eventually have a signing ceremony for the agreement. Mr Trump gave no further details, but said the deal was done and being translated.

Days earlier, US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the deal was completely finished but was undergoing a technical review.

The two nations revealed this month details of the so-called Phase 1 deal, which suspended planned escalations and lowered tariffs on a portion of affected products. The deal also appeared to secure commitments from China on some of the issues at the centre of a more than yearlong standoff between the world's two largest economies.

The Phase 1 agreement could pave the way for a broader detente between the US and China, which is expected to require at least two more stages.

US officials say China agreed to increase purchases of US products and services by at least US$200 billion over the next two years.

According to Washington, that would include additional purchases of US farm products of US$32 billion over two years. That would average an annual total of about US$40 billion, compared to a baseline of US$24 billion in 2017 before the trade war started.

Chinese officials have so far not publicly confirmed much of Washington's version - especially on goods purchase commitments. But China said it will import more US wheat, rice, corn, energy, pharmaceuticals and financial services.

China unveiled a new list of tariff exemptions for US imports, mostly chemical products, days after the world's two largest economies announced the Phase 1 deal. China said the second part of the waiver list will be released at an appropriate time.

Washington said the deal also includes stronger Chinese legal protections for patents, trademarks, copyrights, including improved criminal and civil procedures to combat online infringement, pirated and counterfeit goods.

The two countries have reached a consensus over the protection of trade secrets, guarding intellectual property rights for pharmaceutical products, and cracking down on counterfeits and pirated goods on e-commerce platforms.

China will step up protection of intellectual property but at its own pace.

The interim deal with China offers a short-term political victory for Mr Trump and will allow him to claim that his tariffs have paid dividends, at the risk of being accused of postponing tougher issues like China's industrial subsidies.

For Beijing, reducing even some of the tariffs that have been imposed since last year represents a win for President Xi, who is also facing pressure to not give in to the other side.

"Without doubt, to implement the agreement, our imports of American agricultural goods will increase significantly," Vice-Agriculture Minister Han Jun said.