China welcomes Mnuchin's visit to negotiate trade dispute: MOFA

Lu Kang, spokesperson for China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, reiterated at Wednesday's daily press briefing that China welcomes the visit of US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to negotiate the China-US trade issue.

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said Treasury Secretary Mnuchin would head to China to negotiate over the trade dispute within days, but the US and China have yet to reveal details of the visit.

Earlier this week, China's Commerce Ministry also responded to the report of Mnuchin's potential China visit after he said he's considering visiting the country to solve the differences over trade.

China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang [Photo: fmprc.gov.cn]

"A trip is under consideration," Mnuchin said at a press conference during the International Monetary Fund and World Bank spring meetings in Washington, DC, on April 21. "I am not going to make any comment on timing, nor do I have anything confirmed, but a trip is under consideration."

Tension has mounted over the past a few weeks between the two countries on trade and intellectual property as both China and the US have proposed tariffs of 50 billion US dollars on each other's products, and Trump is still planning to impose tariffs up to 100 billion US dollars more on Chinese goods.