China / United States: after the trade agreement, room for negotiations

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Chinese Vice Premier Liu He and President Donald Trump sign the first phase of the U.S.-China trade agreement. SAUL LOEB / AFP

US President Donald Trump and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He signed the first chapter of a White House trade deal on Wednesday, January 15. In Beijing, the media welcome this first step and await further action.

From our correspondent in Beijing , Stéphane Lagarde

A " starting point ", a " good start ". For the official press this Thursday in China, this agreement is primarily a matter of confidence found between the two largest economies in the world, but it is not the end of the war and " in no case a unilateral victory " as the writes the Global Times columnist.

In the portion about #ePayment services in phase one #TradeDeal, the US affirmed non-discriminatory treatment to Chinese electronic payment service suppliers, including #UnionPay. pic.twitter.com/bP73GCCDUY

The continuation and the delicate questions….

Neither winner nor loser, but a “win-win” agreement. Eight hours after the signing, the Chinese authorities published a translation in Mandarin, taking care not to go into details. And if that night after midnight (Chinese time), China central television via its English-speaking subsidiary (CGTN) broadcast the signing ceremony live, the simultaneous translation was interrupted when Mike Pence took the microphone, the Authorities here are wary of the US vice president who has spared Chinese power in his speeches in recent months.

Phase 1 is good, but for phase 2 we will see. The state media do not talk about the continuation of negotiations where sensitive issues such as business subsidies, cybersecurity, regulatory issues will be addressed. According to some Chinese experts, further discussions will have to wait for the outcome of the American elections.