US and China officials discussed ways to implement and enforce a trade deal between the two countries, as three days of negotiations wrapped up in Beijing amid growing optimism that the dispute weighing on their economies could be defused.
This week’s session involving mid-level officials was considered crucial in terms of laying the ground work for higher-level negotiations between now and March 2, the deadline for an agreement set by US president Donald Trump and Xi Jinping, his Chinese counterpart.
The talks unfolded amid growing concerns about a global economic slowdown, as well as financial market volatility, that have added pressure in both Washington and Beijing to put an end to the tit-for-tat tariff escalation that build it up over the past year.