US-China talks resume as hopes for mini-deal rise

Washington: Chinese and US trade officials resumed bargaining efforts on Friday as optimism grew for the two sides to reach an interim agreement and mark a pause in their increasingly damaging trade war.

As negotiators concluded the talks, Beijing and Washington appeared close to announcing an incremental bargain, marking a positive turn after a summer of acrimony and escalation.

The good mood was a rapid improvement after a week in negotiations had appeared headed for a dead end as Washington blitzed China with aggressive maneuvers tied to ethnic persecution in Xinjiang and other matters.

For the moment, US tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars in Chinese merchandise are due to rise on Tuesday. But even a partial win would be a boon for President Donald Trump, who faces an impeachment firestorm and a stinging criticism in Congress for his treatment of Kurdish allies in Syria, only the latest episodes of the White House´s perpetual turmoil.

Since the China trade war began last year, moments of comity and cheer have more than once been shattered, giving way to jolting deteriorations in relations between the two sides. In the spring, officials said a deal was more or less at hand, only to have Washington resume tariff increases in May, accusing Beijing of reneging on core commitments already put down in writing.

In Beijing, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Geng Shuang also told reporters on Friday that China hoped "to promote positive progress" in the talks.

China will continue to increase purchases of US farm exports and pledge to refrain from currency manipulation while Washington will suspend a tariff increase, Bloomberg reported.

Overnight, meanwhile, China´s securities regulators set a timetable for removing foreign ownership limits in finance companies in 2020 -- helping attract foreign investment as China´s economy slows but also removing constraints on foreign capital.

In Beijing, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Geng Shuang told reporters that China hoped "to promote positive progress" in the talks.

China has so far balked at Trump´s demands for profound changes in the way Beijing manages its economy, something analysts say could politically undermine the Communist Party.

Meanwhile, the Trump administration has continued to examine ways in which it could exert more pressure on Beijing beyond simply taxing Chinese imports.

Larry Kudlow, a top White House economic aide, said this week this could include heightened regulatory scrutiny of Chinese companies operating in the United States.