BEIJING/SHANGHAI (Reuters) - The trade war truce agreed by China and the United States at the weekend could help them resolve their differences amicably, but lasting improvements in relations will depend on U.S. “sincerity”, Chinese state media said on Monday.
China and the United States agreed to halt new tariffs during talks between Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump in Argentina on Saturday following months of escalating tensions on trade and other issues.
In a meeting lasting two and a half hours, the United States agreed not to raise tariffs further on Jan. 1, while China agreed to purchase agricultural products from U.S. farmers immediately.
The two sides also agreed to begin discussions on how to resolve issues of concern, including intellectual property protection, non-tariff trade barriers and cyber theft.
But in an editorial, the official China Daily warned that while the new “consensus” was a welcome development and gave both sides “breathing space” to resolve their differences, there was no “magic wand” that would allow the grievances to disappear immediately.
“Given the complexity of interactions between the two economies, the rest of the world will still be holding its collective breath,” it said.
In a separate editorial published late Sunday, China’s state news agency Xinhua said the new consensus “demonstrates that as long as the two sides have sincerity, there is a way out.”
It called on both sides to “take immediate steps” to address concerns and bring trade and economic relations back to normal but warned that
