BEIJING: Chinese and US officials met face-to-face on Thursday in an attempt to resolve a dispute over technology that has taken the world’s two largest economies the closest they’ve ever come to a trade war.
A high-powered US delegation arrived in Beijing for talks with Chinese officials aimed at defusing the tensions, though analysts say they appear unlikely to yield a breakthrough given the two sides’ intensifying rivalry in strategic technologies, where China lags behind the US.
US treasury secretary
Steven Mnuchin is leading the group, which includes commerce secretary Wilbur Ross and US trade representative Robert Lighthizer. Liu He, President Xi Jinping’s top economic adviser, headed the Chinese side in the talks, which are expected to end on Friday.
The dispute has deepened as China has stepped up efforts to overtake western industry leaders in advanced technologies, especially for semiconductors, the silicon brains required to run smartphones, connected cars, cloud computing and artificial intelligence.
Ahead of the talks, US President
Trump praised his relationship with China’s
Xi Jinping. “Our great financial team is in China trying to negotiate a level playing field on trade! I look forward to being with President Xi in the not too distant future. We will always have a good (great) relationship!”