US and China delegations ended the prolonged three-day trade negotiation meeting in Beijing with some positive signs. Ted McKinney, U.S. Under Secretary of Agriculture for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs, said there were a “good few days” in China, and the meeting “went just fine”. He added that “It’s been a good one for us.”

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said “extending the consultations shows that the two sides were indeed very serious in conducting the consultations.”

Global stocks are lifted by news that China-US trade talks in Beijing are extending into an unscheduled third day, with signs of good progress. It’s confirmed by a US Trade Representative spokesperson who said “a statement will likely follow then.” Nevertheless, the extension itself is affirmative as both sides need time and efforts to full exchange their views before getting close to an agreement by 90-day deadline on March 2.

Trump tweeted yesterday that “Talks with China are going very well!” Reuters also reported quoting unnamed source saying “Overall the talks have been constructive. Our sense is that there’s good progress on the purchase piece.” However, it’s unknown how China is going to address a key issue of intellectual property theft.

But at least, this week, China issued long-awaited approvals for import of five genetically modified crops which would boost import of US grains. There was also another larger purchase of US soybeans. These are widely seen as gestures of good will.

Separetely, the China Daily said in an editorial China “will not seek a solution to the trade frictions by making unreasonable concessions, and any agreement has to involve give and take from both sides,”

US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross expressed his optimism on US-China trade negotiation in a CNBC interview. He said “there’s a very good chance that we will get a reasonable settlement that China can live with, that we can live with and that addresses all of the key issues. And to me those are immediate trade. That’s probably the easiest one to solve,”

Regarding the slowdown in China, Ross said it’s a “big problem in their context of having a very big need to create millions of millions of jobs to hold down social unrest coming out of the little villages”. And that could create a “real social problem. But he added, regarding the slowdown, he is “not happy nor guilty. We expected this would happen.” But, “what has changed is China now understands how independent they are on us.”

US delegation is having the second day of trade talks in Beijing today.

China and the US are holding vice ministerial trade negotiation in Beijing today. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said that “From the beginning we have believed that China-U.S. trade friction is not a positive situation for either country or the world economy. China has the good faith, on the basis of mutual respect and equality, to resolve the bilateral trade frictions.”

Lu added, “As for whether the Chinese economy is good or not, I have already explained this. China’s development has ample tenacity and huge potential”. And, “We have firm confidence in the strong long-term fundamentals of the Chinese economy.”

Trump said on Sunday that “I think China wants to get it resolved. Their economy’s not doing well… “I think that gives them a great incentive to negotiate.”