President Donald Trump announced plans to meet with the Chinese Vice Premier Liu He on Friday, indicating progress on a potential trade deal.
After months of trade negotiations with China, Trump has invited the Chinese representative to the White House for what he called a “big day of negotiations.” According to CNBC News, Liu has also avowed “great sincerity” for the trade talks, spurring optimism for a trade deal between the U.S. and China.
On Thursday, Trump tweeted the announcement of the Chinese Vice Premier’s visit.
“Big day of negotiations with China. They want to make a deal, but do I?,” Trump said.
Big day of negotiations with China. They want to make a deal, but do I? I meet with the Vice Premier tomorrow at The White House.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 10, 2019
According to CNBC, principal talks between the two countries began in Washington on Thursday.
CNBC also reported a 160 point jump, a .6 percent increase, on the Dow Jones industrial average following Trump’s announcement, indicating stock market optimism for a positive outcome in the deal. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite were also both up .6 percent on Thursday.
“The Chinese side has come with great sincerity and is willing to make serious exchanges with the U.S. on issues of common concern such as trade balance, market access and investor protection, and promote positive progress in the consultations,” Liu told the Chinese state-run Xinhua news agency earlier on Thursday.
Liu’s comments appeared to hone in on several of Trump’s concerns over current trade terms with China. Trump has also previously raised the issue of intellectual property theft by China and currency manipulation.
In February, U.S. cybersecurity analysts determined China has already breached a 2015 cybersecurity pact between former U.S. President Barrack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping. As recently as August, China has been suspected in cyberattacks on at least 17 U.S. utility companies.
In January, U.S. officials have announced criminal charges against the Chinese technology company Huawei over U.S. technology theft. In May, the Trump administration issued an executive order blocking Huawei from doing business in the U.S. as an effort to protect sensitive U.S. technology.
On Wednesday, the New York Times reported Trump administration plans to provide licenses to some U.S. companies to work with Huawei on non-sensitive technologies.
Bloomberg reported Wednesday that Trump had already taken the step to halt tariff increases scheduled for next week, as part of a currency pact with China.
Another sticking point for negotiations may come in the form of U.S. opposition to Chinese human rights abuses. According to CNBC, the U.S. has blacklisted at least 28 Chinese entities suspected of involvement in human rights violations against China’s minority muslim population.
Elected officials in the U.S. have also raised criticism against China’s handling of ongoing pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong.
