US-China trade talks resume in Shanghai without high expectations

The latest round of US-China trade talks kicked off in Shanghai on Tuesday with the first face-to-face meetings between negotiators from both countries since the collapse of the negotiations in May.

On the US side, the talks are being led by trade representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and by Vice-Premier Liu He and Commerce Minister Zhong Shanon on the Chinese side.

The meeting in Shanghai was organised after presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping agreed to a trade war truce at the G20 leaders' summit in Osaka only a month ago

Both sides were seeking to play down expectations of a quick end to the trade war. Local media carried little coverage on Tuesday, while there were no reports or pictures of the US delegation touching down in the city, despite this being the first face-to-face meeting between top trade envoys since the dramatic collapse of the negotiations in May.

Only Chinese state media outlets and a select few social media accounts were permitted to report or comment on the trade talks

It was expected that Chinese imports of American farm products would be high on the agenda, together with the removal of US tariffs and import embargoes on certain Chinese products and firms, although there was growing pressure on Trump not to “sell out”.

For their part, Beijing and the Chinese government had repeatedly stated that they would not give up any ground to the US’ unfair terms.