Liu He

The Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Friday, November 22, 2019, that China wants to work out the first-phase trade deal with the U.S. while trying to avoid creating a war that will plummet the global economy. Still, the country would not be afraid to retaliate if necessary. “We want to work for a ‘phase one’ agreement on the basis of mutual respect and equality,” said Xi In the New Economy Forum in Beijing. “When necessary we will fight back, but we have been working actively to try not to have a trade war. We did not initiate this trade war and this is not something we want.” Still, Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that the Chinese Vice Premier Liu He had invited U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to Beijing for a face-to-face talk. The so called “phase one” deal that was expected to be made on the sidelines of the APEC summit in Chile on November 16-17, 2019. The summit was cancelled due to the unrest in the country. Both the U.S. and China have yet to find a venue for their negotiation. Concerns grew amid the delay of the deal which later hammered by the U.S. President Donald Trump, saying that China needed to throw in the deal he likes, and if the deal fails, he would raise tariffs on Chinese goods. Thus, the invitation by the Chinese top negotiator Liu He could set things straight between the two countries, paving the way for their leaders to ink the deal. It is expected that the negotiation between top delegates would be held before next Thursday’s U.S. Thanksgiving holiday.