WASHINGTON — China and the United States kicked off a fresh round of high-level economic and trade talks in Washington on the morning of Feb 21, as negotiators strive to beat a 90-day deadline that ends on March 1.

The Chinese delegation is headed by Vice-Premier Liu He, who also came as the special envoy of President Xi Jinping; while the US team includes Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.

Liu, Lighthizer and Mnuchin co-chaired the formal opening at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building of the White House.

Vice-Premier Liu He, who also comes as the special envoy of President Xi Jinping, US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin co-chair the formal opening of a fresh round of high-level economic and trade talks at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building of the White House in Washington, the United States, on Feb 21, 2019. [Photo/Xinhua]

The Chinese attendees of the opening included Governor of the People’s Bank of China Yi Gang, Chinese Ambassador to the United States Cui Tiankai, Deputy Director of the Office of the Central Commission for Financial and Economic Affairs and Vice-Finance Minister Liao Min, Vice-Foreign Minister Zheng Zeguang, Vice-Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs Han Jun, Vice-Minister of Commerce and Deputy China International Trade Representative Wang Shouwen, as well as Cong Liang, secretary-general of the National Development and Reform Commission.

On the US side, major officials attending the opening included Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, Director of the National Economic Council Larry Kudlow, and Peter Navarro, assistant to the president for trade and manufacturing policy and director of the National Trade Council, among others.

The two-day talks, the seventh round since last February, came on the heels of the just-concluded round held in Beijing from Feb 14 to 15, and the working-level consultation between the two sides has started in Washington earlier on Feb 19.

Altogether these discussions aimed to resolve outstanding issues regarding the economic and trade relations between the world’s two largest economies, as negotiators of both sides have worked relentlessly to achieve consensus on issues of major concern before March 1.

With the current round counted in, there have been three rounds of talks between the two sides in less than a month since the end of January, despite the week-long Lunar New Year holidays in China and Washington’s Birthday long weekend in the United States.

During the talks last week, the two sides reached consensus in principle on major issues, and had specific discussions about a memorandum of understanding on bilateral economic and trade issues.

After months of escalating trade friction involving massive extra tariffs on imports from each other, President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Donald Trump agreed on Dec 1 that the two countries should manage to reach a mutually beneficial and win-win agreement within 90 days to break the impasse.

The trade standoff has had negative impacts on both economies and added much uncertainty to global markets and the world economy.

During a meeting with the US delegation last week, the Chinese President once again highlighted the role of cooperation in resolving the economic and trade differences and frictions, and urged negotiators of the two sides to “make persistent efforts” to reach a mutually beneficial deal.

“Cooperation is the best choice for both sides,” Xi said, adding that “of course, there are principles in cooperation.”

Vice-Premier Liu He, who also comes as the special envoy of President Xi Jinping, US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin co-chair the formal opening of a fresh round of high-level economic and trade talks at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building of the White House in Washington, the United States, on Feb 21, 2019. [Photo/Xinhua]