Premier Li: China, US should be rational on trade

Premier Li Keqiang spoke on China-US trade issues on Tuesday and said it is hoped both sides act rationally instead of being led by emotions, and avoid waging a trade war.

Li made the remarks at a news conference held after the conclusion of the first session of the 13th National People's Congress in Beijing on Tuesday.

He noted that much talk was heard recently about a possible trade war between China and the United States.

China believes that a trade war does no good to both sides, and no one will emerge as a winner from a trade war, Li said.

If one does have to use the term "war", it would be going against the rules of doing trade, because trade is realized through negotiation, consultation and dialogue, Li said. 

Last year, China-US trade exceeded $580 billion, and Li said the two countries have been doing trade to this end on the basis of business rules and market principles; otherwise, it would have not been possible to have such a big volume of two-way trade.

Speaking on the US trade deficit against China, Li said a large trade deficit – not just with the US - is not something that we want to see, and what we want to see is an overall trade balance; otherwise, this kind of trade would not be sustainable. 

Li referred to what he had listed earlier at the news conference about China's further steps for opening-up, such as those regarding services, manufacturing and products, and he said this will bring opportunities for the US businesses too.

Washington, at the same time, is urged to ease its restrictions concerning exporting high-tech goods or high value-added commodities to China, Li said.

China will further fully protect intellectual property rights, and it is hoped the US will not miss this important tool for balancing China-US trade; otherwise, it will miss a good opportunity for making more money, Li added.

Responding to the question on China's remarkable foreign exchange reserves, Li said China makes diversified investments of its foreign exchange reserves on the basis of market principles, and China will remain a responsible long-term investor.

China and the US have a relationship that is between the world's largest developing and developed countries. Their economies are highly complementary, and a stable China-US relationship is in the interest of both countries and the whole world, Li said.