VICE Premier Liu He yesterday called U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer over trade disputes between the two countries.

According to a statement released by the Chinese Commerce Ministry, Liu, who currently heads the China-U.S. trade talks, called Mnuchin and Lighthizer in the morning as invited to implement the consensus recently reached by the heads of state of the two countries.

In the calls, China and U.S. sides exchanged views on the timetable and roadmap to push forward the following trade talks, according to the statement.

During a dinner meeting in Argentina on Dec. 1, President Xi Jinping and his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump discussed the economic and trade issues between the two countries and reached important consensus.

The two presidents agreed to take measures to ease bilateral trade tensions and keep up close contacts, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi told reporters after the G20 summit in the Argentine capital of Buenos Aires.

The two presidents agreed that the two countries “can and should” ensure the success of China-U.S. relations and that coordination, cooperation and stability should be the defining features of bilateral relations, according to Wang.

The two presidents agreed to keep up close contacts with each other through visits, meetings, phone calls and correspondences to continue providing guidance for bilateral ties, said Wang.

China will import more marketable products from the United States in efforts to gradually ease imbalances in two-way trade, said Wang.

The two sides also agreed to open markets to each other, said Wang, adding that China will, in the process of its further opening up, work to gradually resolve the legitimate U.S. concerns.

Working teams on both sides will follow the guidance of the principled consensus reached between the two leaders, and step up negotiations toward the removal of all additional tariffs so as to reach a mutually beneficial agreement at an early date. (Xinhua)