Local time March 15-16, Chinese lead person for China-US economic and trade affairs, Vice Premier of the State Council He Lifeng, and US lead persons, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, held economic and trade consultations in Paris, France.
Guided by the important consensus of the two heads of state, the two sides conducted candid, in-depth, and constructive exchanges and consultations on economic and trade issues of mutual concern, such as tariff arrangements, promoting bilateral trade and investment, and maintaining existing consultation consensus. They formed some new consensuses and will continue to maintain consultations.
US President Donald Trump stated that he has requested China to postpone the China-US leaders' summit by about a month, citing that he needs to stay in Washington to handle the war with Iran. At a White House event on Monday, March 16 local time, when asked whether this important summit would be rescheduled, Trump said: "We are working on that. We are talking to China. I would love to go, but because of the war, I want to stay here." Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian stated while hosting a regular press conference that head-of-state diplomacy plays an irreplaceable strategic guiding role in China-US relations, and the two sides are maintaining communication regarding President Trump's visit to China.
Li Chenggang, China International Trade Representative and Vice Minister of Commerce, said on March 16 that over the past day and a half, the teams from both sides had candid, in-depth, and constructive consultations, reached preliminary consensus on some issues, and the two sides will continue the consultation process in the next step. The issues discussed between China and the US included bilateral tariff levels under the new situation, the possible further extension of arrangements related to bilateral tariffs and relevant non-tariff measures, promoting bilateral trade and investment cooperation, and mutual economic and trade concerns. The US side briefed the Chinese side on the latest adjustments to their tariff measures and their related considerations for the next step, and the Chinese side expressed concern about the resulting uncertainty. Both sides agreed to commit to maintaining the stability of bilateral economic and trade relations. Regarding the issue of promoting bilateral trade and investment cooperation, the two sides discussed the idea of establishing a working mechanism to promote bilateral trade and investment cooperation, and they also deeply discussed mutual economic and trade concerns during the consultations.
He Lifeng stated that under the strategic guidance of the important consensus of the two heads of state, after five rounds of economic and trade consultations last year, China and the US reached a series of consultation outcomes in the economic and trade field, injecting more certainty and stability into bilateral economic and trade relations and the world economy.