Talks and disputes to mark future Sino-US ties

China and the United States agreed to suspend any increase in trade tariffs after a meeting between President Xi Jinping and President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Saturday. The two sides also agreed to discuss issues of common concern, including market access, intellectual property rights protection, technology transfer, and fighting cyber theft.

The US agreed to leave the tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese imports at 10 percent instead of raising them to 25 percent on Jan 1, saying it would raise the tariff to 25 percent if no agreement is reached with China within 90 days. Apart from reaching a consensus on economic and trade issues, the two heads of state also prevented the trade conflict from spiraling into a full-blown confrontation.

China has always attached great importance to maintaining and strengthening bilateral relations with the US. Less than three months after Trump became US president, Xi made it clear Beijing will make concerted efforts to not only maintain but also further improve Sino-US ties. China even took concrete actions to this end: Xi visited the US in April 2017 and held extensive talks with Trump at Mar-a-Lago in Florida. And during Trump's visit to China in late 2017, the two sides signed bilateral economic and trade cooperation deals worth $250 billion, showing China's sincerity in reducing its trade surplus with the US.