Chinese Vice Premier Liu He confirmed that negotiations with his US counterparts on the phase one trade deal were progressing well. Addressing a technology conference at Nanchang, Jiangxi on Saturday, Liu remarked, “China and the U.S. have made substantial progress in many aspects, and laid an important foundation for a phase one agreement.”

Expectations are high that US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping will sign the interim trade deal at the upcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Chile during mid-November. According to the US, China has confirmed its willingness to import up to $50 billion worth of agricultural goods from the US. In response to this move, the US is expected to suspend additional tariffs it had previously announced to impose on Chinese imports.

Liu also confirmed China’s willingness to work towards improving its IP protection policies, especially for SMEs. Trade teams on both sides are discussing the draft of the text in the partial trade deal that the leaders will be looking to sign next month. Meanwhile, US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin also confirmed that the next round of lower-level trade talks are scheduled to take place sometime this week via phone discussions as the deal is being finalized.