China is awash with data and most of it has been rather depressing. Just hours after the opening day of high-level trade talks concluded in Washington, the National Bureau of Statistics released a set of disappointing manufacturing numbers. For the second straight month, the sector was in negative territory in January, a further reminder of why discussions are taking place between China and the United States in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, which is next to the White House.
Vice-Premier Liu He’s delegation will reconvene on Thursday in the final session to resolve the impasse with the US team led by US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer. At this stage, there was little evidence that Beijing would bow to pressure to deepen reforms or change its broader economic policy. “China is open to and is actively pursuing some structural changes on its own, but the US should not seek to change China’s development model. That’s the bottom line,” Liu Ying, a research fellow at Renmin University of China’s Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies, said.
Vice-Premier Liu He’s delegation will reconvene on Thursday in the final session to resolve the impasse with the US team led by US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer. At this stage, there was little evidence that Beijing would bow to pressure to deepen reforms or change its broader economic policy. “China is open to and is actively pursuing some structural changes on its own, but the US should not seek to change China’s development model. That’s the bottom line,” Liu Ying, a research fellow at Renmin University of China’s Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies, said.
