BEIJING — China and the United States are advancing their trade talks with close communication on details, the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) said Dec 13.

“The Chinese side welcomes the US team to visit China for consultation and is open to visiting the US for communication,” MOC spokesperson Gao Feng told a news conference.

Gao said the two countries had reached consensus on specific issues including agricultural products, energy and automobiles. “Soybean has always been an important kind of agricultural import from the US given the huge demand in China.”

Gao said more details of the trade talks would be released.

Vice-Premier Liu He, who currently heads the China-US trade talks, spoke with US officials on Dec 11, and the two sides exchanged views on implementing the consensus reached by the heads of state of the two countries and on the timetable and roadmap to push forward the trade talks.