As US and China work on ‘difficult’ trade deal, Chinese side it should be ‘treasured’

Beijing, March 6: The US and China are reportedly working on a deal to bring to conclusion their trade war that started last year. The progress on the plan has seen Washington dropping a plan to raise the tariff rate on Chines products worth US $200 billion to 25 per cent.

The culmination of the process could be seen during a meeting between US President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping scheduled in Florida later in March with the signing of a deal.

The process, however, has been "very difficult" and "exhausting", as the Chinese have said.

"I'd say it's hard and difficult because the two countries have huge differences in their institutions, cultures and stages of development. The two sides had to make extra efforts [to reach consensus], so it was very difficult, it is very hard," Chinese Commerce Minister Zhong Shan, the first senior Chinese official to discuss the meetings that took place in the capitals of the US and China, said on the sidelines of the National People's Congress on Tuesday, March 5, reported South China Morning Post.

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"[The negotiation] was also exhausting because the time available for negotiation was very limited - we were originally scheduled for two days and then the talks were extended for another two days, but the time was still very limited. Our team worked overtime and overnight."

Zhong, who went to Washington with Vice-Premier and chief trade negotiator Liu He for the last round of talks in February, also added that the negotiation also proved to be "fruitful" and achieved quite a bit of progress.

That the Chinese are genuinely looking for a positive result after the trade war put considerable impact on both sides was reflected in Zhong's words who said that it is not easy to achieve such a result and they should "treasure" it.