One of China's most senior officials is going to the US to try and diffuse Trump's trade war
- Chinese Vice-Premier Liu He is set to fly to Washington for preparatory trade talks ahead of a meeting between US President Trump, and Chinese leader Xi Jinping, South China Morning Post reports.
- Trump and Xi are expected to hold an informal meeting on the sidelines of the G20 in Buenos Aires, Argentina at the end of November.
- Separately, the Wall Street Journal reported overnight that US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin held a phone conversation with Liu He on Friday evening.
- Markets welcomed the news, with European stock benchmarks up and US index futures inching higher
Trade relations between the US and China appear to be thawing a little ahead of an informal meeting between President Donald Trump and his counterpart Xi Jinping later this month.
Trump and Xi are expected to hold an informal meeting on the sidelines of the G20 in Buenos Aires, Argentina at the end of November, and senior officials from both countries seem to be priming the pump with a series of preparatory meetings.
Most recently, the South China Morning Post reported on Tuesday that Chinese Vice-Premier Liu He is set to fly to Washington DC at some point before the Buenos Aires meeting, with the aim of meeting senior officials in the Trump administration.
When he will fly to the US is as yet unconfirmed, the SCMP report added.
Separately, the Wall Street Journal reported overnight that US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin held a phone conversation with Liu He on Friday evening to discuss the trade issues. That conversation "didn't lead to any breakthrough," the Journal reports.
"At present, both countries economic teams are having contacts about putting into effect the consensus of the two countries leaders," Assistant Commerce Minister Li Chenggang told reporters earlier this month.
"We hope that this work, with the hard efforts of both sides, can achieve positive progress."
Reports of a potential meeting between Liu He and his US counterparts comes soon after a report that President Trump has once again raised the possibility of levying large tariffs on the import of cars into the US.
According to a report from Bloomberg, the White House is internally circulating a draft report from the Commerce Department on auto tariffs. Trump plans to meet with his trade team on Tuesday to discuss the report. Releasing a Commerce Department report on auto tariffs would be the next formal step toward imposing such restrictions.
The US government has already introduced tariffs ranging from between 10% to 25% on $250 billion worth of Chinese goods entering the US, triggering similar tariffs introduced by Chinese policymakers on US goods entering the nation, albeit on a smaller scale.
Trump has previously threatened to place tariffs on all Chinese imports into the US, totalling more than $500 billion of goods, a move that would likely slow global trade significantly.
Stocks have greeted the news of potential further dialogue between the world's two largest economies, with China's benchmark Shanghai Composite gaining close to 1% on Tuesday, and major European bourses rising as much as 0.7%. The Euro Stoxx 50 broad index is about 0.6% higher.
US stock index futures are also up slightly after a tech-led selloff yesterday.