The South China Morning Post broke the news on Wednesday, citing sources, that Vice-Premier Liu and his team may leave the negotiations earlier than expected because they had failed to see progress on critical issues.
CNBC said Thursday, however, citing the White House, that the Chinese delegation is still scheduled to leave on Friday evening.
The Financial Times reported on Wednesday, citing those familiar with the talks, that Beijing is offering to boost US agricultural exports by $10 billion in hopes of striking an interim trade deal as the two negotiating teams meet in DC.
Beijing reportedly believes that an offer to increase annual purchases of US agricultural products, from the current $20 billion to $30 billion, could help the sides to reach a deal, similar to that signed by the US and Japan earlier in the week. Centering around agriculture and other contentious issues, the US-Japan accord is meant to be followed up by a more comprehensive deal at an as-yet-unnamed time.
For over a year, the United States has been engaged in a trade war with China, the former accusing the latter of exercising unfair commercial practices. The two countries have since exchanged several rounds of hefty import duties while maintaining talks to settle disagreements.
According to CNBC, citing a US official, US President Donald Trump has not yet made up his mind as to whether he will announce a breakthrough in the US-China talks this week.
The trade war between the two countries, prompted by multi-billion-dollar tit-for-tat tariffs, has affected the global economy.
