China says Trump visit deals are ‘preliminary’

• China says tariff, farming and jet deals need to be finalised.
• Commerce ministry gives no details on timelines, volumes, values.
• Trump has hailed his trip to Beijing as a “huge success”.
  

BEIJING: China’s commerce ministry on Saturday described as “preliminary” the tariff, agricultural and aircraft deals agreed during this week’s visit by US President Donald Trump.

Trump left Beijing on Friday after two days of talks with President Xi Jinping that featured pageantry and warm rhetoric but limited detail on concrete outcomes across trade and investment.

In a statement on its website, the ministry said the two sides had agreed to establish an investment board and a trade board to negotiate reciprocal, product-specific tariff reductions, as well as broader cuts on unspecified goods including agricultural products.

Also on agriculture, Beijing said both sides would work to resolve non-tariff barriers and market access issues.

‘Finalised as soon as possible’

“The US side will actively promote the resolution of China’s long-standing concerns regarding the automatic detention of dairy products and aquatic products, exports of bonsai in growing media to the United States, and recognizing Shandong province as an area free of avian influenza,” the ministry said.

“The Chinese side will also actively promote the resolution of US concerns regarding registration of beef facilities and exports of poultry meat from some US states to China,” it added.

The ministry did not identify companies or provide details on volumes, values or timelines.

Saturday’s statement marked China’s first public characterisation of the outcomes of trade talks held this week in Beijing and Seoul, and comes amid questions over what Trump’s first state visit to China in nearly a decade has delivered.

Trump has said China agreed to buy 200 Boeing aircraft, but analysts have questioned the lack of a timeline.

The commerce ministry confirmed arrangements on “Chinese purchases of US aircraft and US assurances on the supply of aircraft engines and parts to China”, without elaborating.

It said discussions on the details were continuing and that the agreements would be “finalised as soon as possible”.