China’s most senior economic official made an unexpected appearance at crucial trade talks with the US on Monday, signalling Beijing’s eagerness to end a bruising economic battle between the two countries.
A Chinese participant shared a photo on social media showing a smiling vice-premier Liu He, President Xi Jinping’s top economic adviser, meeting US deputy trade representative Jeff Gerrish for the two-day negotiations in Beijing.
The appearance of one of China’s most senior officials at the talks — the first since Mr Xi and Donald Trump, US president, agreed to a truce in the trade war at the G20 summit in Buenos Aires last year — surprised analysts because the negotiations are supposed to be between mid-tier bureaucrats.