U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Friday he had a “productive working dinner” the previous night in Beijing, kicking off a day of talks aimed at resolving the bitter trade dispute between the world’s two largest economies.
Mnuchin and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer were in the Chinese capital for the first face-to-face meetings between the two sides in weeks after missing an initial end-of-March goal for a summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping to sign a pact.
“We had a very productive working dinner last night, and we are looking forward to meeting today,” Mnuchin said as he left his hotel to meet with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He, who is due to visit Washington next week to continue the talks.