26th December, 2019
China is in close touch with the United States on signing a Phase 1 trade deal, the spokesman for the country’s commerce ministry said on Thursday.
Gao Feng, commerce ministry spokesman said both sides are still going through necessary procedures before the signing.
He made the comments to reporters at a regular briefing in Beijing.
On Tuesday, U.S. President Donald Trump said he and Chinese President Xi Jinping will have a signing ceremony to sign the first phase of the U.S.-China trade deal agreed to this month.
“We will be having a signing ceremony, yes,” Trump told reporters. “We will ultimately, yes, when we get together. And we’ll be having a quicker signing because we want to get it done. The deal is done, it’s just being translated right now.”
United States Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said on Dec. 13 that representatives from both countries would sign the Phase 1 trade deal agreement in the first week of January.
Beijing has not yet confirmed specific components of the deal that were released by U.S. officials.
China’s Commerce Ministry spokesman said last week the details would be made public after the official signing.