China-U.S. joint statement an important step toward resolving differences: commerce ministry

BEIJING, May 12 (Xinhua) -- The joint statement on the China-U.S. Economic and Trade Meeting in Geneva is an important step toward resolving differences between the two countries through equal dialogue and consultation, a spokesperson for China's Ministry of Commerce said Monday.

It laid the foundations and created the conditions for further bridging differences and deepening cooperation, the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson noted that the high-level meeting achieved substantial progress by significantly reducing bilateral tariff levels, which met the expectations of manufacturers and consumers in both countries, and is in line with the interests of both nations and the broader global community.

The spokesperson expressed the hope that the U.S. side will continue to work with China, move in the same direction, and fully rectify its erroneous practice of imposing unilateral tariffs.

China also hopes that the two countries will be able to continuously enhance mutually beneficial cooperation and maintain the healthy, stable, sustainable development of bilateral economic and trade relations to inject greater certainty and stability into the world economy, said the spokesperson.