Trump’s top economic officials to meet with China counterparts in London next week

US President Donald Trump announced on Friday that his top economic officials will meet with their Chinese counterparts next week to discuss trade, just days after he conducted a phone call with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

“I am pleased to announce that Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, and United States Trade Representative, Ambassador Jamieson Greer, will be meeting in London on Monday, June 9, 2025, with Representatives of China, with reference to the Trade Deal,” Trump said on social media.

“The meeting should go very well. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”

Already buoyed by a US jobs report on Friday that narrowly exceeded forecasts, stocks extended gains after Trump’s announcement, with the benchmark S&P 500 index advancing by more than 1 per cent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index gaining around 1.3 per cent.

The talks planned for next week will come just four days after Trump held a phone call with Xi to discuss a frayed trading relationship before extending invitations to visit each other’s capitals. Trump said shortly after the call on Thursday that the exchange “resulted in a very positive conclusion for both Countries”.

Trump’s positive tone marks a change from the accusations that Washington and Beijing had flung at each other in the days leading up to this week’s phone conversation for allegedly breaching a deal reached weeks ago in Geneva, when the world’s two largest economies agreed to dramatically cut mutual tariffs for 90 days.

South China Morning Post