China’s Vice Premier Liu He, President Xi Jinping’s top economic adviser is traveling to Washington to start the second round of trade talks tomorrow, with US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. Liu and his team will stay from May 15 to 19 according to a Foreign Ministry spokesperson.
Ahead of the meeting, Trump said he was working with Xi to help get Chinese telecoms company ZTE back in to business.
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And he added that
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White House spokeswoman Lindsay Walters confirmed that US officials were in contact with Beijing about ZTE. And, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross is expected to “exercise his independent judgment, consistent with applicable laws and regulations, to resolve the regulatory action involving ZTE based on its facts.”
This is seen a concession by Trump ahead of the trade talks. And the news lifted Hong Kong stocks sharply higher. Hong Kong HSI gained 419.02 pts, or 1.35%, to close at 31541.08.