China, U.S. have agreed on some trade issues: reports

Say both sides were still ‘very divided’ on several others

U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, left, and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross leave their hotel in Beijing, on Friday. Chinese and U.S. officials met face-to-face Thursday to try and resolve a dispute over technology that has taken the world's two largest economies the closest they've ever come to a trade war.

China and the U.S. have reached “agreements” on some issues, but both sides were still “very divided” on several others during the economic and trade talks held here to end the tariff spat between the two major trading partners, according to a media report on Friday.

‘Work mechanism’

The U.S. delegation, led by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who is also President Donald Trump’s special envoy and the Chinese side, led by Vice Premier Liu He, met on Thursday and Friday, and “agreed to set up a work mechanism to keep close communication”.

A trade spat between the top two economies of the world began last month with Mr. Trump imposing tariffs on steel and aluminum imports into the U.S. from China, which also retaliated by imposing additional tariffs worth about $3 billion on 128 U.S. products.

The two countries have not yet implemented their tariff changes to reach a negotiated settlement.

“China and the U.S. reached agreements on some issues in their economic and trade consultations in Beijing from Thursday to Friday,” the State-run Xinhua news agency said in a brief report.

The South China Morning Post quoted an official statement as saying that the two sides “reached some consensus” and exchanged views on expanding U.S. exports to China, bilateral investment, intellectual property protection and the imposition of tariffs.