Chinese Vice-Premier Liu He to hold trade talks in Washington on January 30-31

Confirmation of top-level talks comes after positive negotiations in Beijing last week

US-China trade war

Teddy Ng

Published: 3:58pm, 17 Jan 2019

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Chinese Vice-Premier Liu He will travel to Washington at the end of the month for the latest round of trade talks with the US, Beijing said on Thursday.

Liu will hold two days of meetings on January 30 and 31 with US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, commerce ministry spokesman Gao Feng said at a press briefing.

The announcement confirms a South China Morning Post report published on Tuesday.

After Liu’s last visit to Washington in May, he told China’s state media that the two sides had reached a consensus to “not fight a trade war”, but that agreement quickly soured.

Liu He will meet US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer (pictured) and US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin in Washington. Photo: AFP

Chinese and US officials at the vice-ministerial level held three days of talks in Beijing last week which ended on a positive note. The US Trade Representative’s office said delegates touched on several key issues, including “forced technology transfers, intellectual property protection, non-tariff barriers, cyber intrusions and cyber theft of trade secrets for commercial purposes, services and agriculture”.

Wei Zongyou, a professor of American studies at Fudan University, said he expected Liu and his US counterparts to reach consensus in Washington.

His visit would help minimise the risk of the trade dispute escalating, he said.

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