China says it won’t seek any trade pact with US at the expense of its principles

China said Monday that it will never seek any trade agreement with the US at the expense of its principles, the interests of enterprises or international fairness and justice, state-run Xinhua News Agency reported.

China’s international trade representative Li Chenggang made the remarks at a news briefing following two days of trade talks with the US in Spanish capital Madrid.

Li said the Chinese and US delegations engaged in “candid, in-depth and constructive” communication on economic and trade issues of mutual concern, including the TikTok issue.

Li noted that both sides recognize that a stable China-US economic and trade relationship is of “great significance” to both countries as well as to global economic stability and development.

On the issue of TikTok, Li said that Beijing has always “opposed politicization, instrumentalization and weaponization of technology and economic-trade matters.”

However, Beijing said the two sides reached a consensus on TikTok which “conforms to the two sides' interests.”

“China will firmly safeguard national interests, the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises and carry out technology export approval in accordance with relevant laws and regulations,” Li added.

During the trade talks, Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng urged the US to lift relevant restrictions on China as soon as possible.

He also urged the US side to take “concrete actions” to safeguard the “hard-won achievements of the talks” and continuously create a “favorable atmosphere” for stable China-US economic and trade relations.