美中贸谈代表 传8月会面 香港《南华早报》25日引述一名匿名知情人士报导，中国贸易谈判团队负责人、国务院副总理刘鹤与美方团队共同领导人、贸易代表赖海哲可望在8月举行正式会谈，评估双方履行中美第一阶段贸易协议的情况。 报导说，虽然中国过去几个月已大幅提高采购美国农产品数量，但因新冠病毒疫情等因素，中方采购量距离贸易协议中承诺的数量仍有一段距离。 分析家说，近来美中相互关闭对方领事馆，加上其他争端，可能破坏双方在贸易方面的任何进展。 中美第一阶段贸易协议在1月15日签署后一个月生效，协议中规定双方高层组成的贸易框架小组，每半年应举行一次会谈。 知情人士透露，此次会议将是“一个重要的转折点”，让双方得以评估协议进展。 但这名人士也说，若美中紧张关系导致此时会谈意愿不高，双方可能会同意，赖海哲与刘鹤5月8日的电话会议，即已满足贸易协议中每半年会谈一次的条款。 今年以来，中美关系急速恶化，双方争端包括新冠病毒起源、贸易、香港、新疆、南海与意识形态等一系列问题。 美国总统特朗普虽在年初吹嘘自己在首阶段协议中取得的成就，但近来态度改变。 他23日在白宫记者会上说，虽然中国近来单日采购美国玉米数量破纪录，也买了很多大豆，“但这份贸易协议现在对我的意义，已不如当初达成时” 。 一位匿名北京政府顾问也认为，由于美中关系不佳，新一轮贸易谈判不太可能进行， “贸易议题在中美关系已失去分量”。 但他透露，中国经贸相关单位23日仍开会讨论了一系列问题，包括如何增加从美国的进口量， “我们已经尽力买了，所以任何追加采购会有困难” 。 美中贸易全国委员会副会长彭捷宁表示，保持首阶段协议动能“比以往任何时候都更重要”， 并指中国今年在进一步向美企开放金融市场上有所进展。 独立研究公司Plenum分析师说 ：“谈比不谈好，尽管可能只被当成例行公事。”
U.S. - China trade talks representatives rumored to meet in August Hong Kong's South China Morning Post reported on the 25th August by citing an anonymous source familiar with the matter that Liu He, the head of China's trade negotiation team and the Vice Premier of the State Council, and Robert Lighthizer, the co-leader of the U.S. team and Trade Representative, are expected to hold formal talks in August to assess the two sides' implementation of the first phase of the U.S.-China trade agreement. According to the report, China has significantly increased its purchases of U.S. agricultural products in the past few months, but because of the COVID-19 pandemic and other factors, Chinese purchases are still some distance away from the quantities promised in the trade agreement. Analysts said that the closure of each other's consulates by the U.S. and China and their other disputes could derail any progress on trade between the two sides. The first phase of the U.S.-China trade agreement, which took effect one month after it was signed on Jan. 15, stipulates that a trade framework group composed of high-level officials from both sides should hold talks once every six months. A source close to the matter said that, the meeting will be "an important turning point" for the two sides to assess the progress of the agreement. But the source also said that if U.S. - China tensions lead to a low willingness to talk at this time, the two sides may agree that the conference call between Lai Haizhe and Liu He on May 8, which meets the terms of the trade agreement to hold talks once every six months. Since this year, the China-US relations have deteriorated sharply, and the disputes between the two sides cover a range of issues such as the origin of novel coronavirus, trade, Hong Kong, Xinjiang, the South China Sea and ideology. U.S. President Trump has changed his attitude recently, despite boasting about his achievements in the first phase of the agreement earlier in the year. He said at a White House press conference on the 23rd day that, China’s single-day purchase of U.S. corn has broken the record, and also, China has bought a lot of soybeans recently, "but now, this trade agreement means less to me than it did when it was reached." An anonymous adviser from Beijing Government also believes that a new round of trade talks is unlikely due to poor U.S.-China relations and that "the issue of trade has lost its weight in the China-U.S. relations." But he revealed that China's relevant economic and trade units still met on the 23rd day to discuss a range of issues, including how to increase imports from the U.S. "We have done our best to buy, so any additional purchases will be difficult". Jake Parker, the Vice President of the U.S.-China Business Council, said it is "more important than ever" to maintain the momentum of the first phase of the agreement, and that China has made progresses this year in further opening its financial markets to U.S. companies. An analyst from Plenum, an independent research firm, said, "It's better to hold talks than not to do so, even though it may only be treated as routine. ”