China Says Willing to Resolve Trade Issues with US Via Mutually Respectful Talks

Chinese vice commerce minister Wang Bignan said on Saturday that China is willing to resolve trade issues with the United States via mutually respectful consultations.

The vice commerce minister told reporters at a news conference that china is willing to meet the United States over trade on an equal footing, Reuters reported.

Wang also said that Beijing would promote the healthy and stable development of China-United States relations.

China and the United States are currently engaged in a trade war triggered by Trump's announcement in June that $50 billion worth of Chinese goods would be subject to 25 percent tariffs, in a bid to fix the US-Chinese trade deficit. Since then, the two countries have imposed several rounds of tit-for-tat tariffs, levying duties on billions of dollars worth of each other's goods.

On Friday, US President Donald Trump said that that trade negotiations between the United States and China are going well and the two sides are getting closer to reaching a deal.

"We've had very good discussions with China. We're getting much closer to doing something. They very much want to make a deal," Trump told reporters. "A lot of progress has been made, a lot of progress, and they understand that if a deal isn't made, we're doing well the way we're doing it right now."

Trump also reiterated that that he would discuss the issue when he meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping during the G-20 summit in Argentina at the end of November.