China promises to continue work on ‘phase one’ deal with US despite tensions

The Chinese government on Friday vowed to continue working toward implementing “phase one” of the U.S.-China trade deal despite ongoing tensions between the world’s two largest economies.

Speaking at the National People’s Congress (NPC), which was delayed by two months due to the coronavirus pandemic, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said they will continue to work toward implementing the deal with the U.S. in an effort to revive their economy.

“We will work with the United States to implement the phase one China-U.S. economic and trade agreement,” Li said. “China will continue to boost economic and trade cooperation with other countries to deliver mutual benefits.”

The Department of Agriculture and Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) announced Thursday that the two countries are making progress on the deal, which requires China to buy $200 billion in additional U.S. goods.

“China has worked with the United States to implement measures that will provide greater access for U.S. producers and exporters to China’s growing food and agricultural markets,” USTR Robert Lighthizer said in a statement.

The progress comes as ties between China and the U.S. have become more strained as President Trump and GOP lawmakers have lashed out over the origins of the coronavirus amid other pre-exisiting economic issues between Washington and Beijing.

Trump’s reelection campaign has also indicated they are making China a central theme of the campaign. A pro-Trump super PAC and the Biden campaign have each made ads casting their opponent as deferential to China.

Li, notably, did not set a goal for economic growth this year amid the economic fallout of the pandemic. The Chinese Communist Party has pledged to double the size of the economy from 2010 by the end of 2020.

“I would like to point out that we have not set a specific target for economic growth this year. This is because our country will face some factors that are difficult to predict in its development due to the great uncertainty regarding the COVID-19 pandemic and the world economic and trade environment,” Li said.