China’s success partly comes from its ability to stick to a single strategy in trade. Even as Beijing has shown a willingness to talk and make peace offerings in the form of multibillion-dollar import contracts, it has held fast to its refusal to make any commitment for a fixed reduction in its trade gap with the United States. The trade imbalance between the countries has actually widened since Mr. Trump visited Beijing in November and oversaw the signing of import deals on everything from beef to helicopters.
Beijing also has not bent on its Made in China 2025 initiative, an industrial modernization program that Washington and American business groups complain forces foreign companies to share their best technology while potentially creating state-sponsored rivals.
China said on Monday that it welcomed more talks.
“The two sides have come to recognize that only through consultation can we properly handle trade disputes,” Lu Kang, the spokesman for China’s foreign ministry, said during his daily news briefing on Monday.
Chinese propaganda was quieter on signs that the Trump administration may be backing away from Mr. Trump’s pledge to help ZTE, which Washington moved to punish for breaking American sanctions on Iran, North Korea and other countries.
