[ti:US-China Trade Talks Begin, No Major Agreement Expected] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM [00:00.16]A high-level trade delegation from the United States [00:04.72]arrived in Beijing Thursday to hold talks with Chinese officials on trade policies. [00:15.08]The U.S. team includes Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, [00:20.72]U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer [00:24.80]and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin. [00:29.80]The Chinese side is led by Vice Premier Liu He, [00:34.96]the top economic adviser to President Xi Jinping. [00:41.60]U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly said [00:46.00]that China has unfair trade policies [00:49.56]that hurt the U.S. economy and its workers. [00:55.00]Trump also wants to reduce the large U.S. trade deficit with China. [01:01.60]Foreign companies are concerned about policies that, they say, [01:08.04]force them to share technology with Chinese partners [01:12.40]in order to do business in China. [01:15.80]The negotiations are expected to deal with ways to resolve these trade disputes. [01:24.40]In addition, the two sides are expected to discuss newly-announced trade tariffs. [01:32.24]In early April, China announced tariffs on more than 100 U.S. goods, [01:38.92]including vehicles, plastic goods and agricultural products. [01:45.28]The new tariffs would affect $50 billion worth of U.S. products. [01:52.40]The move followed a Trump administration announcement [01:56.33]that it planned to place tariffs on about $50 billion dollars of Chinese exports. [02:04.60]Trump has also suggested he is considering putting additional tariffs [02:10.00]on up to $100 billion in Chinese goods. [02:15.76]China denies that it carries out unfair trading policies. [02:21.08]However, it recently announced moves some observers see as partly answering the U.S. criticism. [02:30.64]Chinese officials have promised to reduce a 25 percent tariff [02:35.76]on imported foreign cars by 2022. [02:40.88]China also announced it would drop rules requiring foreign automakers [02:47.00]to share factory ownership and profits with Chinese companies by the same year. [02:55.28]Trump expressed hope about the new trade talks in a Twitter message late Wednesday. [03:02.32]"Our great financial team is in China trying to negotiate a level playing field on trade!" he tweeted. [03:11.20]"I look forward to being with President Xi in the not too distant future. [03:16.88]We will always have a good (great) relationship!" [03:22.24]U.S. government numbers released Thursday showed the U.S. trade deficit with China [03:29.12]fell 11.6 percent in March to $26 billion. [03:35.68]That number comes after the deficit in February reached its highest level in nine years. [03:44.68]A Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman confirmed the talks had begun, [03:50.24]but did not provide further information. [03:54.20]The spokeswoman said China welcomed the talks. [03:58.12]But she said the negotiations should be based on equality [04:02.84]and respect, to provide a "win-win" agreement for both sides. [04:10.40]The official China Daily said in an editorial [04:14.08]Chinese officials would stand up to any "U.S. bullying as necessary" during the talks. [04:22.96]Christopher Balding is a professor at Peking University's HSBC Business School. [04:30.56]He says getting the two sides to resolve major trade differences [04:36.00]during the talks is likely to be very difficult. [04:41.04]"I would be somewhat surprised if there was any real change [04:45.09]in the negotiating stance of either party," he said. [04:49.41]He added that the main issue is China's repeated unwillingness [04:55.52]to further open its markets. [04:59.52]Balding said he thinks the best result would be the two sides [05:03.80]finding enough room to compromise to avoid getting into a possible trade war. [05:10.62]I'm Bryan Lynn. [05:12.80]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM