US, Chinese envoys to meet in October for tariff war talks

In this June 1, 2019, photo, file a man carries a paper bags containing toys purchased from the FAO Schwarz as people shop at the newly open FAO Schwarz toy store at the capital city's popular shopping mall in Beijing. Caught in the crossfire of a trade war, American businesses operating in the China say they've been hurt by the hostilities between the world's two biggest economies and are facing increasingly unfair competition from Chinese firms. (AP Photo/Andy Wong, File) In this June 1, 2019, photo, file a man carries a paper bags containing toys purchased from the FAO Schwarz as people shop at the newly open FAO Schwarz toy store at the capital city's popular shopping mall in Beijing. Caught in the crossfire of a trade war, American businesses operating in the China say they've been hurt by the hostilities between the world's two biggest economies and are facing increasingly unfair competition from Chinese firms. (AP Photo/Andy Wong, File)

By Associated Press September 5, 2019 4 min read

BEIJING (AP) – U.S. and Chinese envoys will meet in early October for more talks aimed at ending a tariff war that threatens global economic growth.

Stock markets rose on Thursday’s announcement but there has been no sign of progress since Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping agreed in June to resume deadlocked negotiations about trade and technology.

The agreement on timing came in a phone call conducted by the chief Chinese envoy, Vice Premier Liu He, with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, the Chinese Commerce Ministry said in a statement.

Officials will “conduct conscientious consultations” in mid-September to prepare, the ministry said. It gave no details but said the two sides want to create “favorable conditions.”

China’s main stock market index closed up 1% following the announcement. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 gained 2.1% and South Korea’s main index rose 0.8%.