He Lifeng in 'candid' pre-summit talks with US side

Vice-Premier He Lifeng, Beijing's lead person for China-US economic and trade affairs, has held a video call with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer. The two sides held candid, in-depth and constructive exchanges on Thursday on implementing the important consensus reached between the two heads of state at their meeting in Busan and during previous calls, and on further properly addressing their respective concerns in the economic and trade sector and expanding pragmatic co-operation. The Chinese side expressed solemn concern over recent US restrictive measures against China in the economic and trade fields. Both sides agreed to continue making full use of the China-US economic and trade consultation mechanism to build consensus, manage differences and enhance co-operation, so as to promote the healthy, stable and sustainable development of China-US economic and trade relations. The call comes ahead of a meeting set for later this month between President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Donald Trump. (Xinhua) Edited by Robert Kemp