Liu He to sign some kind of trade deal in Washington sometime next week
Vice Premier Liรบ Hรจ ๅ้นค
Reutersย reports:
Chinaโs Vice Premier Liรบ Hรจ ๅ้นค, head of the countryโs negotiation team in Sino-U.S. trade talks, will sign a โPhase 1โ deal in Washington next week, the commerce ministry said on Thursday.
Liu will visit Washington on January 13-15โฆ Negotiating teams from both sides remain in close communication on the particular arrangements of the signing, [according to a commerce ministry spokesperson].
The Chinese delegation will include 10 officials, among them Zhลng Shฤn ้ๅฑฑ, minister of commerce, Yรฌ Gฤng ๆ็บฒ, governor of the Peopleโs Bank of China, Liร o Mรญn ๅปๅฒท, vice minister of finance and Zhรจng Zรฉguฤng ้ๆณฝๅ , vice minister of foreign affairs, as well as Chinaโs ambassador to Washington, Cuฤซ Tiฤnkวi ๅดๅคฉๅฏ, according to a U.S. source familiar with the preparationsโฆ
But no version of the text has been made public, and Chinese officials have yet to publicly commit to key points such as increasing imports of U.S. goods and services by $200 billion over two years.
China will not increase its annual low-tariff import quotas for corn, wheat and rice to accommodate stepped-up purchases of farm goods from the United States, senior agriculture official Hรกn Jรนn ้ฉไฟ said on Tuesday, according to local media group Caixin.
Xinhua confirmsย (in Chinese) the dates, and that Liu He will lead the delegation, but does not mention the other names in the Reuters report quoted above. Yet most of the names were in the high-level delegation that went to Washington last year in Octoberย for the last round of failed talks.
