US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said he’s looking forward to “productive meetings” as he arrived in Beijing with Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer for another round of trade negotiations. Mnuchin told reporter that “ambassador Lighthizer and myself are pleased to be back here in Beijing, and we look forward to productive meetings.”
China’s Ministry of Commerce confirmed that Vice Premier will hold meetings with Lighthizer and Mnuchin tonight. And, discussions will resume for a full day on Friday. Spokesman Gao Feng said there were some progress achieved during previous phone calls. However, there remains a lot of work to do.
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang told business executives at the Boao forum that there is no trust deficit with the US and hoped that the trade talks could achieve results. Li also pledged that China must protect intellectual property or there is no hope for transformation in the country. He also sounded upbeat on the economy and said “changes” in March exceeded expectations.
Besides, Li said China is “quickening the full opening of market access for foreign investors in banking, securities and insurance sectors.” Scope of foreign banks, bank and non-bank card payments will be “expanded sharply”. Restrictions on securities and insurance brokers will also be removed. Li emphasized the measures will be “implemented this year in a relatively forceful way”. In addition, China is drafting rules to relax the restrictions on foreign acquisitions of Chinese listed corporations.
