China Confirms Intensive Working Team Talks in August with U.S.

(Bloomberg) -- Trade teams from the U.S. and China will be in close contact before the next meeting of top negotiators in Washington in September, a government official in Beijing said.

Working-level groups from the U.S. and China will have intensive negotiations in August, Ministry of Commerce spokesman Gao Feng said at a press conference on Thursday. Negotiators from the two countries discussed two main topics in the talks that wrapped up Wednesday in Shanghai, according to Gao.

“One is about how to view the past, mainly about what led to the halt of negotiations, while clarifying views on some issues,” he said. “The other is about what to do in the future. The two sides specified their principles and approach for the negotiations, as well as the schedule,” Gao said.”

While the talks showed few signs of progress, the two countries confirmed that they have discussed increasing China's imports of agricultural products from the U.S. and planned to meet again in early September in Washington.

Gao repeated China's standard line that its core concerns must be addressed, adding that the U.S. needs to show sufficient sincerity to get a deal, and stressed that China and the U.S. have more common interests than disputes.

When asked about whether Huawei Technologies Co. is part of the conversation in the talks in Shanghai, Gao said China has noticed U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross's recent comments on Huawei. “We hope the U.S. can implement the commitments as soon as possible and stop using state power to suppress Chinese companies,” he said.

To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story: Miao Han in Beijing at mhan22@bloomberg.net;Kevin Hamlin in Beijing at khamlin@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Jeffrey Black at jblack25@bloomberg.net, James Mayger

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With assistance from Bloomberg