Beijing - Chinese President Xi Jinping said that Beijing is
actively working on a partial trade deal with the United States on
the "basis of mutual respect and equality," financial news service
Bloomberg reported on Friday.
In his first reported comments since both sides negotiated a "phase
one" agreement in October, Xi said "we did not initiate this trade
war and this is not something we want."
"When necessary, we will fight back, but we have been working
actively to try not to have a trade war", he said.
The Chinese president was meeting former US secretary of state Henry
Kissinger, other international visitors and participants in a
economic forum organized by the Bloomberg Media Group in the Chinese
capital.
His comments followed US President Donald Trump saying earlier this
week that China was not "stepping up to the level that I want" in the
trade talks.
Also on Friday, The Wall Street Journal reported that China's chief
trade negotiator had invited his US counterparts for a new round of
face-to-face talks.
The report said that Liu He, Xi Jinping's point person for trade
matters relating to the US, extended the invitation to US Trade
Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven
Mnuchin last week.
The prospect of a partial trade deal being signed in the near future
remains uncertain. China is pushing for a reduction of US tariffs,
while Trump has so far only promised to hold off raising tariffs
further.