BEIJING — China and the United States have met each other halfway and reached consensus on multiple issues regarding intellectual property rights (IPRs) protection, Vice-Minister of Commerce Wang Shouwen said on Dec 13.

The consensus covers areas including the protection of trade secrets, crackdown on piracy and counterfeiting on e-commerce platforms, and crackdown on malicious trademark registration, Wang told a news briefing regarding the two countries' phase one trade deal.

The consensus will help increase the inflow of foreign IPRs into China, Wang said.

"China has seen sustained improvement in IPR protection, which is in line with the needs of the country's reforms and economic development," the vice-minister said.

China and the United States have agreed on the text of a phase one economic and trade agreement based on the principle of equality and mutual respect, according to a statement issued by the Chinese side on Dec 13.

The text includes nine chapters: the preface, intellectual property rights, technology transfer, food and agricultural products, financial services, exchange rate and transparency, trade expansion, bilateral assessment and dispute settlement, and the final terms.