Encouraged by Xi's remarks, but want concrete actions:US
US President Donald Trump on Wednesday welcomed his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping's pledge to open up the world's second largest economy, even as the White House ruled out reversing the 25 per cent import tariffs worth $ 50 billion on Chinese products, saying America wants "concrete actions" from Beijing.
In his keynote address at the Boao Forum for Asia yesterday, Xi vowed to lower auto import tariffs, protect the intellectual property of foreign companies and further open the $ 12.84 trillion economy, the second largest in the world.
"China's door of opening up will not be closed and will only open wider," Xi said. "Very thankful for President Xi of China's kind words on tariffs and automobile barriers...also, his enlightenment on intellectual property and technology transfers. We will make great progress together!" Trump tweeted, reports PTI.
The White House also issued a statement, praising Xi for his statement. "Certainly, we are encouraged by President Xi's words, his kind words. But at the same time, we want to see concrete actions from China, and we're going to continue moving forward in the process and in the negotiations until those happen," White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders told reporters at her daily news conference.
The statements from both leaders follow a week of escalating tariff threats sparked by US' concern over China's trade and intellectual property policies, worrying financial markets over potential damage to global growth.