China’s No. 2 calls for trade negotiations

BEIJING — China’s No. 2 leader appealed Wednesday for support for free trade and promised to improve conditions for foreign companies following U.S. and Chinese tariff hikes.

Premier Li Keqiang’s comments add to Beijing’s effort to portray itself as a defender of global trade in the face of complaints by Washington and other trading partners that China violates its market-opening commitments.

Also Wednesday, a foreign ministry spokesman accused Washington of lacking sincerity after it proposed negotiations and then raised tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese goods.

China responded to President Donald Trump’s tariff hike by imposing its own penalties Tuesday on $60 billion of American imports.

American officials also object to Chinese plans for state-led development of champions in robotics and other fields. They say that violates Beijing’s market-opening commitments and might erode U.S. industrial leadership.

Speaking at a business conference, Li made no direct mention of the tariff fight but called for disputes to be resolved through negotiation.

“It is essential that we uphold the basic principles of multilateralism and free trade,” the premier said in a speech at the World Economic Forum in the eastern city of Tianjin.

Disputes “need to be worked out through consultation,” said Li, the country’s top economic official.

“No unilateralism will offer a viable solution.”

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said Tuesday it was up to Beijing to decide when to talk.

The foreign ministry spokesman, Geng Shuang, criticized “U.S. threats, intimidation and blackmail.”

“What the United States is doing shows no goodwill and no sincerity,” Geng said at a daily briefing in Beijing.