Chinese delegation preparing for next round of trade talks

Source: Xinhua | 2019-05-08

CHINA said a delegation was still preparing to go to the United States for trade talks despite the latest US threats to increase tariffs.

“There have been many times that the US has threatened to increase tariffs,” foreign ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said yesterday when asked about US President Trump’s latest tweets on tariffs. “China’s positions are clear and the US side is well aware of them.

“We are also in the process of understanding the relevant situation. What I can tell you is that China’s team is preparing to go to the United States for the discussions,” Geng told a news briefing.

“What is of vital importance is that we still hope the United States can work hard with China to meet each other half way, and strive to reach a mutually beneficial, win-win agreement on the basis of mutual respect,” Geng said.

Negotiations start on Wednesday in Washington.

China’s A-shares plunged yesterday, with the three major indexes all suffering big losses and over 1,000 stocks plummeting by the daily 10 percent cap, on fears over escalating trade tensions.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index declined 5.58 percent, or 171.88 points, to finish at 2,906.46 points. The blue-chip CSI300 index also tumbled more than 5 percent. The smaller Shenzhen Component Index slumped 7.56 percent to end at 8,943.52 points, while the ChiNext Index, China’s Nasdaq-style board of growth enterprises, fell 7.94 percent to finish at 1,494.89 points, the biggest daily loss since January 2016.

The combined turnover of the two bourses was 657.9 billion yuan (US$96.8 billion).

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index closed down 2.9 percent to 29,209.82 points.

The market saw broad-based declines, with sectors such as communications and non-banking financial companies leading the losses.

But a few shares such as Yantai Shuangta Food Co Ltd and Harbin High-Tech (Group) Co Ltd jumped by the daily limit of 10 percent. The gains came after the strong performance of Beyond Meat Inc, a Los Angeles-based producer of plant-based meat substitutes, which surged 163 percent on the first day of trading on the Nasdaq.

China’s central bank announced yesterday that it will cut the required reserve ratio for rural commercial banks, effective from May 15. The RRR for small and medium-sized lenders will be lowered from around 11.5 percent to 8 percent, which will inject around 280 billion yuan in liquidity into the market.

China’s currency, the yuan, dropped to as low as 6.7994 per dollar, its weakest level in 3-1/2 months, while the offshore yuan fell as much as 1.3 percent.