n June 5, Chinese President Xi Jinping took a phone call from US President Donald Trump, reiterating that the direction of the giant ship of China-US relations requires both sides to take the helm and set the right course, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced.
Xi said the Geneva meeting held in May between the two countries marked an important step forward in resolving the relevant issues through dialogue and consultation, and that China and the US need to make good use of the economic and trade consultation mechanism already in place.
“The Chinese side is sincere about this, and at the same time has its principles. The Chinese always honor and deliver what has been promised. Both sides should make good on the agreement reached in Geneva,” Xi told Trump, according to the Foreign Ministry.
Trump responded that the meeting in Geneva produced a good deal and that the US will work with China to execute the deal. According to Trump’s social media post on the US Embassy website in China, Xi invited Trump and First Lady Melania Trump to visit China, and Trump reciprocated.
From June 9 to 10, a Chinese delegation led by Vice Premier He Lifeng, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, held the first meeting of the China-US economic and trade consultation mechanism with the US side in London during He’s visit to the UK. The US delegation was led by Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.
The meeting was one of the outcomes agreed at the Geneva talks held on May 10, where the two countries agreed to establish an economic and trade consultation mechanism.
In a joint statement released following the Geneva talks, both countries listed measures to ease tariff tensions and agreed on the importance of a sustainable, long-term and mutually beneficial bilateral economic and trade relationship, the Xinhua News Agency reported.
Less than one month later, China’s Ministry of Commerce publicly condemned the US for seriously undermining the consensus reached during the Geneva talks by introducing multiple discriminatory restrictive measures against China, such as issuing guidance on AI chip export controls, halting sales of chip design software and announcing the revocation of visas for Chinese students.
During the London meeting, He Lifeng urged the US to resolve trade disputes with China through equal dialogue and mutually beneficial cooperation.“Cooperation between China and the US in the economic and trade field benefits both sides, while confrontation harms both... There are no winners in trade wars,” he said.
He added that the two sides should make better use of the China-US economic and trade consultation mechanism, and work to enhance consensus, reduce misunderstandings and strengthen cooperation.
At the press conference following the London meeting, Li Chenggang, China’s international trade representative and vice minister of commerce, revealed that China and the US have agreed in principle on the framework for implementing a consensus between the two heads of state during their phone talks on June 5, as well as those reached at the Geneva talks.
Li said China hopes that the progress made at the London meeting will be conducive to strengthening trust between China and the US, and to further promoting the steady and healthy development of economic and trade ties between the two countries.
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