China's vice premier holds 'constructive' call with Bessent and Greer

BEIJING, Dec 5 (Reuters) - Top Chinese and U.S. officials held a call on Friday to discuss trade, including ongoing efforts to implement an agreement to de-escalate their countries’ trade war.

Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng had an "in-depth and constructive" video call with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, China's official Xinhua news agency reported.

Both sides agreed to promote the stable development of bilateral trade and economic ties, and "expand the list for cooperation and shorten the list of problems", according to Xinhua.

Parties to the call "positively evaluated" the implementation of the outcomes of earlier trade talks, and discussed the next steps in carrying out cooperation and addressing each other's concerns.

Bessent, in a post on X, said the officials discussed the implementation of the "Busan arrangement," which presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping approved in October during face-to-face talks in the South Korean city.

Under that agreement , the U.S. agreed to trim tariffs on China in exchange for Beijing cracking down on the illicit fentanyl trade, resuming U.S. soybean purchases and keeping rare earths exports flowing.

Bessent said in his post that the implementation of the arrangement was "going well."

"I also reaffirmed the United States’ commitment to continued engagement with China," Bessent said.

On Wednesday, Bessent said China was poised to complete its commitments under the U.S.-China deal, including the purchase of 12 million metric tons of soybeans, which the Treasury chief said would be finished by the end of February 2026.