Although the United States threatened on May 5 to hike tariffs on Chinese goods beginning on May 10, Beijing maintained a measured approach when it responded to the latest threat stemming from the ongoing Sino-US trade consultations.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said on May 7 that China would not sidestep differences and is sincere about continuing the trade consultations.

He said at a daily news conference that the negotiations are a process of discussion, and it is normal for two sides to have differences.

Mutual respect and mutual benefit is the precondition and basis to reach an agreement, he said, adding that raising additional tariffs cannot resolve any problems.

At the invitation of US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Vice-Premier Liu He will visit the US on May 9 and 10 for the 11th round of trade talks, the Ministry of Commerce said in a statement on the afternoon of May 7.

Liu is also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chief of the Chinese side of the China-US comprehensive economic dialogue.

Chen Wenling, chief economist of the China Center for International Economic Exchanges, said cooperation is the best choice for China and the US.

If the two countries cooperate with each other, the world can prosper; otherwise, the global economy will slow down, Chen said at a conference in Beijing. She noted that China and the US combined account for 40 percent of the world’s total GDP, nearly 40 percent of total global manufacturing output, and around 25 percent of the world’s total trade volume.

Foreign direct investment in China from non-financial sectors reached $35.8 billion in the first three months of this year, up 3.7 percent year-on-year, while FDI from the US to China increased 71.3 percent from same period a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Commerce.

Trade between China and the US amounted to 815.86 billion yuan ($121.7 billion) in the first quarter of this year.