US-China trade talks extended amid some signs of progress

[BEIJING] The United States and China will continue trade talks in Beijing for an unscheduled third day, US officials said on Tuesday amid signs of progress on issues including purchases of US farm and energy commodities and increased access to China's markets.

People familiar with the talks said the world's two largest economies were further apart on Chinese structural reforms that the Trump administration is demanding in order to stop alleged theft and forced transfer of US technology and on how to hold Beijing to its promises.

"Talks with China are going very well!" US President Donald Trump tweeted without elaborating, as talks wound down late on Tuesday evening in Beijing.

Steven Winberg, assistant secretary for Fossil Energy at the US Department of Energy, told reporters in Beijing that the talks, which began on Monday, had gone well.

"I confirm we're continuing tomorrow, yes," Mr Winberg said, declining to answer further questions.

This week's meetings are the first face-to-face talks since US President Donald 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 March 2, Mr Trump has said he will proceed with raising tariffs to 25 per cent from 10 per cent on US$200 billion worth of Chinese imports at a time when China's economy is slowing significantly.

A spokeswoman for the US Trade Representative's office, which is leading the US negotiating team, said talks would continue on Wednesday and "a statement will likely follow then."

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."

SEEDS OF PROGRESS

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.

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," Mr Kennedy said, adding that an announcement of another round of talks would be a positive outcome.

REUTERS