China's trade tsar in the limelight for US tariff talks

On the daily level, He will be defending China's trade surplus,

said Wen-Ti Sung, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council's Global China Hub

Wendy Cutlerasia Society Policy Institute vice president

As the first face to face meeting between senior U.S. and Chinese officials since Trump’s inauguration, it’s an important opportunity to have initial talks on unwinding some tariffs, mapping out a path forward, as well as raising concerns,

Cutler said

The Chinese side carefully evaluated the information from the U.S. side and decided to agree to have contact with the U.S. side after fully considering global expectations, Chinese interests and calls from U.S. businesses and consumers,

said a ministry spokesperson

I thought it was constructive, ... This is not a plan just to encircle China. It’s a plan to fix the American economy, to have a greater share of manufacturing as GDP, to have real wages go up, to be producing things instead of having an economy that’s financed by the government.”

he said, adding