China denies rumors of offer to cut trade surplus with US

On Friday, China rebutted rumors that the country had offered to cut its trade surplus with the United States by $200 billion, saying that trade talks with the US so far have been constructive and are still in process.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said that the goal of the ongoing consultations between the two countries is to understand both sides' concerns, and the talks are carried out in a process with mutual understanding and accommodation to move the bilateral economic and trade relationship toward a win-win direction.

Chinese Vice-Premier Liu He is leading a delegation for a new round of trade talks with the US in Washington. US President Donald Trump met with Liu in the White House Oval Office on Thursday, exchanging views on bilateral economic and trade relations.

Liu, as a special envoy for China President Xi Jinping, extended Xi and Xi's wife Peng Liyuan's warming greetings to Trump and his wife Melania.

Trump expressed his thanks for the greetings and asked Liu to convey their greetings to Xi and Peng.

Liu, also a member of the political bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, told Trump that China-US relations have achieved important and positive progress under the guidance of the two heads of the state.

He said that bilateral relations are now at an important stage and both sides should implement the important consensus reached by the two leaders, meet each other half way, respect each other and make concerted efforts to promote a healthy and stable bilateral relationship.

Trump said that he highly values the good working relationship and personal friendship with President Xi and he is willing to continue to maintain close contact with President Xi to push forward the US-China relations.

During the meeting, Trump and Liu engaged in a deep exchange of views on bilateral economic and trade relationship. Liu said that his visit this time was to follow up on the consensus reached by the two heads of the state and to continue deepening the exchange with the US side on bilateral economic and trade issues.

Liu, who is leading a Chinese delegation for trade talks in Washington, said that China is willing to work with the US to properly handle and solve bilateral economic and trade issues based on the principle of mutual respect and mutual benefit, and to ensure that bilateral economic and trade cooperation continues to be the ballast and booster of China-US relations.

Trump said that it's very important for the US and China to maintain a good cooperative relationship in the economic and trade fields. He said both the US and China have good economic momentum and enormous market potential, adding that there is a huge space for bilateral economic and trade cooperation.

The US president hopes the two economic teams work together to actively resolve the issues in bilateral economic and trade relations. He said the two countries should strengthen trade and investment cooperation in the energy and manufacturing sectors, expand agricultural trade and market access and bolster cooperation in protecting intellectual property rights to bring more practical benefits to the two peoples.

US Vice-President Mike Pence, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and several other US officials also attended the meeting.