(Bloomberg) -- China wants a deal with US President-elect Donald Trump but doesn’t expect the path to an agreement will be easy, according to an adviser to the Foreign Ministry in Beijing.
“For the Chinese side a deal is desirable,” said Wu Xinbo, director at Fudan University’s Center for American Studies in Shanghai, who led a group of experts in China’s Foreign Ministry to meet politicians and business executives in the US earlier this year. “We don’t want to have a trade war.”
“We all understand Trump’s style — he will try to utilize his leverage to keep pushing China,” Wu told Bloomberg on the sidelines of the Caixin summit in Beijing. “It takes time, and it takes wrestling between the two sides.”
During his campaign, Trump threatened to put tariffs of as much as 60% on Chinese goods, a level that Bloomberg Economics said will decimate trade between the world’s biggest economies.
Wu said tariffs are the number one issue for China, including those that are still in place from the first Trump administration. He said a face-to-face meeting between the two leaders should be arranged as soon as possible, preferably before Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20, 2025.
“We need to get a sense of what’s on his mind,” Wu said, adding that the two sides need to start addressing each other’s concerns.
Wu didn’t elaborate on where such a meeting might take place, but said if there was a willingness to meet on both sides, then such issues would be just “tactical.”
Since Chinese officials rarely veer off the official script, the comments from Wu — an influential voice on relations between the world’s biggest economies — offer a glimpse into how Beijing is viewing Trump’s comeback. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning told reporters on Wednesday that China’s policy toward the US is consistent and will continue to be handled “with the principles of mutual respect” and cooperation.
One potential bright spot for China is Trump’s growing affiliation with Elon Musk, chief executive officer of Tesla Inc. The billionaire has extensive business interests in China and donated $130 million to the Trump campaign.
But Wu said Musk and other prominent business figures have their limitations when it comes to the president-elect.
“Trump is Trump,” Wu said. “He has to balance different voices on his team.”
Trump’s victory represents more of a challenge than an opportunity, Wu said. That’s not just because of his style, but also because some of the names mentioned for his administration can’t be considered “rational hawks,” making for more difficult negotiations this time around.
If a trade war does erupt, Beijing would have no choice but to respond and retaliate, Wu said.
“I hope this time our approach will be more effective,” he added.
--With assistance from Jing Li.
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