Trade talks to expand US exports to China

China and the United States will implement the specific elements of the joint statement released on Saturday in Washington, covering the purchase of agricultural and energy products, the Ministry of Commerce said on Wednesday.

One of China's longtime policies is to expand imports to meet the growing demand from domestic consumers as well as to boost high-quality economic development, the ministry said in a statement.

US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross will visit China soon, according to the statement.

China welcomes the entry of high-quality, competitive US products in the Chinese market, the ministry said, adding that the economies of the two countries are highly complementary and bilateral trade has vast potential to improve.

In their joint statement, the two nations agreed to take measures to reduce the US trade deficit in goods, with China significantly increasing purchases of US goods and services, which will help support growth and employment in the US and meet the demand for China's continuing upgrades of its consumption.

Wei Jianguo, a former vice-minister of commerce, said the two sides should strengthen trade cooperation in sectors including energy and agricultural products, medical care, high-tech products and finance in an orderly manner.

"China's imports of US medical care and high-tech products are likely to surpass that of energy and agricultural products in terms of both value and variety," he said.

Lyu Xiang, a researcher at the Institute of World Economics and Politics of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said the lessening of tension created by trade disputes will also help China build a better foundation to further support its ongoing industrial upgrading and catch up with more established foreign rivals in service businesses.

"Exporters from both sides are no longer in a rush to ship their goods to each other's markets as negotiations made a breakthrough in Washington last week," said Li Guanghui, vice-president of the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation in Beijing.

Contact the writers at jingshuiyu@chinadaily.com.cn