U.S., Chinese envoys to meet in October for tariff war talks

BEIJING» U.S. and Chinese envoys will meet in early October for more talks aimed at ending a tariff war that threatens global economic growth.

Stock markets rose on Thursday’s announcement, but there has been no sign of progress since President Donald Trump and China’s president, Xi Jinping, agreed in June to resume deadlocked negotiations about trade and technology.

The agreement on timing came in a phone call conducted by the chief Chinese envoy, Vice Premier Liu He, with U.S. trade representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, the Chinese Commerce Ministry announced in a news release.

Officials will “conduct conscientious consultations” in mid-September to prepare, the ministry said. It gave no details — but said the two sides want to create “favorable conditions.”

China’s main stock market index closed up 1% after the announcement. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 gained 2.1%, and South Korea’s main index rose 0.8%.

U.S. stock indexes marched broadly higher on the news of the planned discussions, with the Dow Jones industrial average surging as much as 480 points.

Bond yields jumped and the price of gold fell as investors regained a bigger appetite for riskier holdings.

Beijing is balking at U.S. pressure to roll back plans for government-led creation of global competitors in robotics and other industries.

The U.S., Europe, Japan and other trading partners say those plans violate China’s market-opening commitments and are based on stealing or pressuring companies to hand over technology.

The U.S. and China have raised tariffs on billions of dollars of each other’s imports, disrupting trade in goods from soybeans to medical equipment and battering traders on both sides.