US President Donald Trump said Thursday that Washington is doing "very well" in trade talks with China and that Beijing is keen to strike a deal ending their trade war.
China "wants to make a deal," he said at the White House. "We're doing very well in the negotiations." Data showing China's economy grew at its weakest pace in three decades have fuelled fears it is heading for a rocky patch, exacerbated by the pressure from US tariffs.
Trump argues that China has skewed the trading rules for decades and must agree to substantial reductions in import barriers, while boosting protection for US intellectual property.
However, the tit-for-tat tariffs between the world's two main economic powers have also hurt US economic confidence and markets are waiting anxiously for a deal.
On Wednesday, Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan told an audience at the World Economic Forum in Davos that "the Chinese and US economies are mutually indispensable, so their relations must be mutually beneficial and win-win.