Xinhua News Agency, Madrid, September 16th, reporter's notes | Face differences and equal dialogue, and promote the Sino-US economic and trade talks to the deep waters

Xinhua News Agency reporter Han Jie, Xie Xiyao, Chen Binjie

On September 14, China and the United States held talks on economic and trade issues in Madrid, Spain. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Peng Ziyang

From September 14 to 15 local time, the Sino-US economic and trade team held talks in Madrid, Spain.

This is the second time that the two sides have held economic and trade talks in third-party countries after Switzerland, the United Kingdom and Sweden.

However, compared with the first three rounds, the topics of this meeting are more specific and in-depth, further confirming that the economic and trade talks between the two sides have entered the deep waters and the consultation is more difficult.

"At this meeting, the two sides had frank and in-depth exchanges on relevant concerns and China, and reached a basic framework consensus on properly solving problems through cooperation, reducing investment barriers, and promoting relevant economic and trade cooperation."

On the evening of the 15th, at a press conference held by the Chinese delegation, Li Chenggang, the international trade negotiator and vice minister of the Ministry of Commerce of China, introduced the results of the talks.

In the past two days, the Santa Cruz Palace, where the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs is located, has witnessed the intense and efficient consultations between the Sino-US economic and trade teams. The reporter interviewed in front and personally felt the rhythm of the Chinese delegation's pace of work.

At around 14:00 local time on the 14th, the Chinese delegation who had just arrived in Madrid in the morning entered the Santa Cruz Palace and held talks with the United States. On the first day of the talks, communication between the technical teams of both sides continued until late at night. The next morning, the talks continued until the end of the afternoon.

On September 14, in Madrid, Spain, media reporters were waiting outside the location of the Sino-US economic and trade talks. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Peng Ziyang

This issue was included in the topic of the talks and attracted much attention.

Since entering the US market, it has accumulated a huge user group and high user stickiness, which is deeply loved by the American people, and has also made positive contributions to promoting employment and consumption in the United States.

However, from Trump's first term of office, to the Biden administration's push to Congress to pass the "ban if you don't sell" bill, to Trump's second term extending the ban grace period three times while constantly raising new holding or acquisition requirements... a series of malicious suppression targeted on the grounds of "national security" has become a microcosm of the United States' politicization, instrumentalization and pan-security of economic and trade issues.

At the press conference, Li Chenggang expressed China's position on the issue: "China has always opposed the politicization, instrumentalization and weaponization of science and technology and economic and trade issues. It will never seek to reach any agreement at the expense of principled positions, corporate interests and international fairness and justice. China will firmly safeguard national interests and the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese-funded enterprises, and carry out technology export approval in accordance with the law."

Hussein Askari, deputy director of the Swedish "Belt and Road" Institute, said that the two sides specifically discussed issues and made new progress during the talks, indicating that the two sides have gradually established a certain degree of mutual trust after the previous rounds of negotiations. “Keep open channels of conversation are a positive signal in itself.”

Talk, the door is open; fight, and accompany you to the end. With rounds of economic and trade consultations, China has always been firm in its attitude: whether it is a fight or a negotiation, China's determination to safeguard its own development interests will not change, and its position and goal of defending international fairness and justice and maintaining international economic and trade order will not change.

At present, the United States has waved the tariff stick to many countries. Its unilateral actions have seriously impacted the global economic and trade order, and ultimately hurt the confidence of global companies and consumers.

"In the face of changes and challenges, countries should take active actions to safeguard the multilateral trading system with the WTO as the core, which is extremely important for the stable growth of international trade and the healthy development of the world economy." Liang Guoyong, a senior economist at the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, told reporters.

Felix Bardiviso, director of the Center for China Studies at IE University in Spain, said the China-US talks send an encouraging signal that the two largest economies in the world can still cooperate.

In two days, outside the Santa Cruz Palace, nearly 100 media reporters watched the venue from morning to night, attracting local residents and tourists from all over the world to stop and watch.

"I have been paying attention to the first three rounds of US-China economic and trade talks, but I didn't expect to witness new talks here." An American tourist who is traveling in Spain told reporters that high tariffs have led to rising prices. The price of a pound of coffee in the United States has risen from $10 to $16. I hope the two sides can reach a win-win agreement as soon as possible.

A young man who had just moved to Madrid to work from Brazil also expressed dissatisfaction with reporters about the United States' high tariffs on Brazil, "This has led to a large amount of Brazil's beef being unsold and can only be sold at low prices in China, which is really bad."

Reality continues to prove that there is no winner in the trade war and there is no way out for protectionism.

"With the implementation of the US tariff measures, the global economy will inevitably suffer a serious impact." Fabian Zulegg, chief economist of the European Policy Center of Belgian think tank, believes that it is particularly important for China and the United States to maintain communication and dialogue, which not only affects the stability of the economic and trade relations between the two sides, but also directly affects the global economic prospects.

The essence of Sino-US economic and trade relations is mutual benefit and win-win results. China and the United States have achieved success, which is an opportunity rather than a threat to each other. History will eventually prove that only cooperation based on equality and mutual benefit can achieve long-term win-win results. Only by moving towards each other, strengthening dialogue and communication, eliminating interference and sabotaging, and enhancing understanding and mutual trust can we win a bright future.