China’s Xi says Beijing wants trade deal, can ‘fight back’

Chinese President Xi Jinping said Friday that Beijing wants to work for a tre deal with United States but is t afraid to “fight back.” Reinforcing upbeat tone opted by China in recent days, Xi told a visiting U.S. business delegation that China holds a ‘positive attitude’ toward tre talks.

“As we always said we don’t want to start tre war but we are t afraid,” Xi said. “When necessary we will fight back but we have been working actively to try t to have a tre war.”

“We want to work for a Phase 1 agreement on basis of mutual respect and equality,” Xi told group.

delegation from Bloomberg’s New Ecomy Forum, a conference held in Beijing this week, included former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, former Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson, former U.S. Tre Representative Mike Froman and or dignitaries. During meeting at Beijing’s ornate Great Hall of People, Xi reiterated to group China’s stance that a deal requires “mutual respect and equality.”

Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that China’s le negotiator in talks, Vice Premier Liu He, invited his U.S. counterparts to Beijing for more talks, suggesting hopes for progress. latest flareup in tre tensions came after President Donald Trump imposed punitive tariffs last year on billions of dollars’ worth of Chinese exports to U.S., seeking to ramp up pressure for changes in Chinese tre and investment policies.

China has retaliated with tariff hikes of its own. After grual escalations of sanctions and halting progress in tre talks this year, two sides are working toward what y say will be a preliminary agreement to pave way for tackling more complex issues. However, prospects even for such a “Phase 1” deal are uncertain. China has said it wants a promise from U.S. side to grually reduce tariffs alrey in place. It’s unclear if U.S. side would be willing to do that.

Meanwhile, Trump agreed to hold off on raising tariffs furr last month pending negotiations. But U.S. side still is due to hike tariffs on $160 billion worth of imports from China next month. That increase would boost prices on smartphones, laptops and many common household goods, right before Christmas.