The US and China have reached a tentative agreement on fentanyl and shipping fees after two days of wide-ranging talks, a Chinese official said, signaling a possible easing of tensions between the world’s biggest economies, Bloomberg reported.
Chinese Trade Representative Li Chenggang said on Sunday that the talks were constructive and covered issues such as export controls, extending the tariff truce and expanding bilateral trade.
Li described the talks as intense and the US stance as tough, but praised progress in the talks. The two sides will now report the outcome back to their leaders ahead of a planned summit between US President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Thursday.
“The current turbulence and reversals are ones we do not wish to see,” Li told reporters, adding that stable Sino-US trade and economic relations are good for both countries and the rest of the world, according to the report.
Earlier, Finance Minister Scott Bessent told reporters in Kuala Lumpur that the talks were “constructive, far-reaching and in-depth” and created a “very positive framework” for the leaders’ meeting. He made no mention of any deal on new US port charges on Chinese ships, which have emerged as a new source of friction in the relationship.
The talks were taking place at the Merdeka 118 skyscraper as Trump met with Southeast Asian leaders at a nearby convention center. The US president signed an agreement on trade and critical minerals with Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim as Washington sought to boost trade across the region and respond to China’s tightening of access to rare earths.
The Chinese delegation was led by Deputy Prime Minister He Lifeng and included Deputy Minister of Finance Liao Min. Sales representative Jamieson Greer was part of Team USA.
Trump landed in Malaysia on Sunday to begin his first tour of the region during his second term. He oversaw the signing of a peace declaration between Thailand and Cambodia. As part of the deal, the U.S. agrees to a “significant trade deal with Cambodia and a very important critical minerals deal with Thailand,” Trump said.
The US president is later scheduled to hold bilateral meetings in Japan and South Korea, where he is also expected to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump said he hoped talks with Xi would produce a “complete deal.”
The meeting would be the first face-to-face meeting of the leaders of the two largest economies this year. Trump said direct negotiations are the best way to resolve issues including tariffs, curbs on exports, agricultural purchases, fentanyl trafficking, geopolitical issues such as Taiwan and the war in Ukraine.
“We’re going to talk about a lot of things. I think we have a really good chance of doing a very comprehensive deal,” he said.
(With inputs from Bloomberg)
