U.S. should stop trade war escalation in order to create the necessary atmosphere for dialogue, China's Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) Spokesperson Gao Feng told reporters at a regular press briefing on Thursday.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump had a phone conversation on Tuesday. Xi agreed that the trade negotiating teams from two sides should continue to communicate over how to solve differences. Gao said that the teams will follow instructions from the two presidents to prepare for their meeting during the Osaka G20 Summit.
Gao said China firmly opposes unilaterally increasing tariffs and escalating trade frictions. He noted that more than 1,500 reports have been received against the raising of tariffs since the Office of the United States Trade Representative held week-long hearings starting Monday on President Trump's plan to add new tariffs to imports from China.
He expresses hope for the U.S. side to listen to responses from the country's different industries and immediately stop wrongdoings in order to avoid increased losses for businesses and consumers from both sides.
Gao said that as the world's two largest economies, China and the U.S. have complementary economic structures and close ties. He hopes the two sides will find a proper solution to the problem through equal dialogue and taking care of each other’s legitimate concerns.
China will release an updated negative list for foreign investment by the end of June, Gao said. He added that MOFCOM will continue to study the reasonable concerns and problems raised by foreign-invested enterprises, and continue to create a more stable, fair and predictable investment environment for investors.
