China hopes US will create conditions to implement Phase 1 deal

China hopes the United States will stop taking restrictive and discriminatory action against Chinese firms and create conditions for the implementation of a Phase 1 trade deal, Assistant Minister of Commerce Ren Hongbin said on Thursday.

Senior US and Chinese officials are due to review the deal this weekend.

Ren said that the coronavirus pandemic and US export control measures had undoubtedly had an impact on Chinese purchases of US goods and services.

“Under the current situation, it is required that the both sides need to work together and step up cooperation to overcome the difficult times,” said Ren.

“We hope US would stop taking any restrictions and discriminatory action against Chinese companies and create conditions for the implementation of the Phase 1 trade agreement.”

US-China tensions have been escalating with President Donald Trump announcing sweeping bans on US transactions with the Chinese owners of messaging app WeChat and video-sharing app TikTok.