Building momentum to find solutions

The focus on a Chinese delegation's visit to Washington on Wednesday to lay the groundwork for the 13th round of high-level Sino-US trade talks next month shows the international community wants the world's two largest economies to strike a deal early and ease some of the economic woes of the world.

The delegation, led by a vice finance minister, will hold trade talks with its US counterpart in Washington on Thursday to prepare for the meeting between US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, and Chinese Vice-Premier Liu He in October.

As the United States and China will hold their first face-to-face trade talks on Thursday since late July, the international community hopes the two sides can pave the way for a breakthrough on such key issues as market entry, protection of investor rights and intellectual property rights, and trade imbalance.