China is willing to conduct an active dialogue with the United States based on the principle of mutual respect and promote the development of bilateral economic and trade relations, Vice Minister of Commerce Wang Shouwen said on Friday.
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China is willing to conduct an active dialogue with the United States based on the principle of mutual respect and promote the development of bilateral economic and trade relations, Vice Minister of Commerce Wang Shouwen said on Friday.
Wang, also China’s International Trade Representative, said China would be able to “resolve and resist” the impact of external shocks, responding to questions about the impact of potential tariffs from US President-elect Donald Trump.
“We believe that China and the US can maintain a stable, healthy, and sustainable development trend in economic and trade relations,” Wang said at a press conference in Beijing.
China is also willing to “develop areas of cooperation and manage differences” with the US, Wang said.
With Trump’s threat to impose tariffs of more than 60% on all Chinese goods, which has hit Chinese manufacturers and accelerated the relocation of factories to Southeast Asia and other regions, Chinese exporters are bracing for trade disruptions.
Economists polled by Reuters believe the United States could impose nearly 40% tariffs on imports from China as early as next year, which could slice growth in the world’s second-largest economy by 1 percentage point.
Chinese authorities on Thursday announced a series of policy measures to boost foreign trade, including a pledge to strengthen financing support for companies and expand exports of agricultural products.
The trade turmoil of Trump’s first presidency will also have an impact on the Chinese yuan. The yuan rallied 10% in the first 18 months before falling around 12% due to tariff and pandemic implications.
“Our basic judgment is that the yuan exchange rate will remain stable at a reasonable and balanced level,” said Liu Ye, an official from China’s central bank at the same press conference.
The central bank will “maintain the yuan’s flexibility while strengthening expectations guidance to prevent the market from forming one-sided view expectations,” he added.
The bank will also strictly guard against the risk of overshooting the exchange rate and keep the yuan stable at a reasonable and balanced level, according to Liu.
Chinese companies are circling more dollars, pricing contracts in yuan and opening import lines to reduce currency risks, Reuters reported on Friday.
