China’s top trade negotiator Li says reached consensus with US after KL trade talks

[BEIJING/KUALA LUMPUR] Economic officials from China and the US reached a preliminary consensus after discussions on a range of issues including the extension of their trade truce, fentanyl and export controls, China’s top trade negotiator Li Chenggang said in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday (Oct 26).

Li, alongside Vice-Premier He Lifeng, held talks with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer to de-escalate a trade war on the sidelines of Asean Summit.

Li described the talks as intense and the US position as tough, but hailed progress in the talks. Both sides will now report the outcome back to their leaders ahead of a planned summit between US President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Thursday.

“The current turbulences and twists and turns are the ones that we do not wish to see,” Li told reporters, adding that a stable China-US trade and economic relationship is good for both countries and the rest of the world. REUTERS, BLOOMBERG