Trade talks to continue in Washington as deadline looms

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Trade talks to continue in Washington as deadline looms

By Kirsty Needham

Beijing: Chinese President Xi Jinping said "important progress" had been made towards a trade deal with the US as he met with Washington's hardline trade representative Robert Lighthizer and commerce secretary Stephen Mnuchin on Friday night.

But few details were released after two days of trade talks in Beijing, and the US and Chinese negotiating teams agreed to meet in Washington next week.

A March 1 deadline for escalating tariffs on $US200 billion ($280 billion) in Chinese exports to the United States looms.

US President Donald Trump later said the trade negotiations were "going extremely well" and "it would be my honour to remove" punitive tariffs - but only if the two sides can reach a deal.

Consultation on the wording of a memorandum of understanding on trade began during the Beijing meetings.

A White House  statement said: "During the talks, the United States delegation focused on structural issues, including forced technology transfer, intellectual property rights, cyber theft, agriculture, services, non-tariff barriers and currency."

There was no comment on whether major sticking points - China's resistance to agree to US demands to restructure its economy and end subsidies to state-owned companies, particularly in the technology field - had been overcome.

President Xi told Lighthizer and Mnuchin in their meeting: "I have repeatedly said that China and the United States cannot be separated from one another. Only through cooperation can a win-win situation be attained, and confrontation will certainly lead to a lose-lose scenario."

As negotiations to resolve the year-long trade war have continued, Washington has stepped up its pressure on Chinese technology companies, particularly 5G equipment maker Huawei. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo this week toured eastern Europe warning US allies not to use Huawei equipment.

Trump has indicated he is prepared to delay his tariff deadline beyond March if he believes a deal can be struck.

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