China urges US to honor words to facilitate agricultural cooperation

A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson on Tuesday urged the US side to honor their words and seriously implement the consensus reached by the two countries' leaders in Osaka to create conditions for bilateral agricultural cooperation.

Spokesperson Hua Chunying made the remarks when asked to comment on the Ministry of Commerce's announcement that related Chinese enterprises have suspended their purchase of US farm products.

The US side announced plans to impose additional 10-percent tariffs on US$300 billion worth of Chinese imports, which seriously violated the consensus reached by the two countries' heads of state in Osaka, Japan, Hua said.

In response, China has decided, for the moment, not to rule out levying import tariffs on American farm imports purchased after August 3, and related Chinese enterprises have halted their purchase, according to Hua.

"China has a large market capacity and the prospect of importing high-quality US agricultural products is bright," she said. "However, the US side should seriously implement the consensus reached by the two leaders, honor the words and keep promises to create necessary conditions for bilateral agricultural cooperation."