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Could the Chinese President's US Visit Signal a Change to Trump's Take on Trade?

© AP Photo / Michael DinneenChinese President Xi Jinping, right, and Alaska Governor Bill Walker greet each other at a meeting Friday, April 7, 2017, in Anchorage, Alaska
Chinese President Xi Jinping, right, and Alaska Governor Bill Walker greet each other at a meeting Friday, April 7, 2017, in Anchorage, Alaska - Sputnik International
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China can make at least two concessions to the US in order to avoid a bilateral trade war, the Financial Times reported, referring to recent talks in Florida between US President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping.

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Touching upon last week's talks in Florida between US President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, the Financial Times said that Beijing could make at least two concessions to the US in a bid to avoid a bilateral trade war.

The concessions are related to more favorable US access to the Chinese financial market and the possibility of American beef being exported to China.

The newspaper recalled that during the April 6-7 high-level talks, the two leaders agreed to speed up the bilateral trade negotiations in order to achieve results within 100 days.

The deal shows that parties managed not to aggravate the existing bilateral differences, but failed to achieve any breakthroughs, including those related to US investments in the Chinese economy and US beef exports to China, according to the Financial Times.

As for some progress pertaining to the US-China trade sphere after the Florida talks, it can be first of all seen in the context of Chinese President Xi Jinping's meeting with Alaska Governor Bill Walker last week, according to Alexei Mukhin, head of the Moscow-based Center for Political Information, a think tank.

In an interview with Sputnik, he said that apart from traditional areas of bilateral cooperation, Alaska is also of importance to China because of its location in the Arctic.

"The cooperation concerning the Northern Sea Route project is currently gaining strength. China is poised to freely bolster cooperation with Alaska in order to develop its trade and economic relations with Europe," Mukhin said, referring to Alaska's current push for expanding ties with Beijing.

He also drew attention to the fact that Xi's meeting with Trump came amid the US missile attack on Syria which killed at least five people and injured seven more.

"I believe that similar tactics failed to improve relations between the US and China. Alaska in turn tried to neutralize the threat of deterioration of these ties although Alaska's efforts are unlikely to succeed, given the geopolitical scale of [the missile attack]. As for China's push to cooperate with separate US States, it is a common practice to compensate for some geopolitical inconveniences with very concrete trade and economic results," Mukhin said.

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He added that with many Chinese provinces currently maintaining inter-regional ties with the US States, Xi's recent visit to Alaska will most likely further add to these relations and show how China is going to ease those trade contradictions that may eventually give way to trade wars.

Yuanzhe, an Expert from the Diplomatic Academy of China, said that Sputnik Xi's trip to Alaska reflects China's intention to develop a sustained and conflict-free relationship with the US.

"Xi Jinping visited Alaska on his way home, meeting Alaska Governor Bill Walker. This is, first and foremost, an important move within the framework of Xi's visit to the US and a significant indicator of the stable development of Sino-US relations which has great potential," Ren said.

Secondly, he added, Xi's visit to Alaska is also important for bolstering China's cooperation with the US States."

"Right now, China-US relations affect not only the central authorities, but also contacts and cooperation at the local level, becoming an important aspect of inter-state relations. In this regard, Xi's trip to Alaska created new opportunities for inter-regional cooperation," Ren pointed out.

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Last but not least, Alaska is rich in natural resources and Xi's visit there can pave the way for the future investment cooperation between Chinese companies with the US's northern areas.

"It is safe to assume that the Chinese President's brief visit to Alaska was of both symbolic and practical significance to the development of the two countries' trade and economic cooperation as well as inter-regional exchanges, Ren stressed.

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