China today praised a significant dialling back of trade tension with the US, with the government saying agreement was in the interests of both countries.
China's state media also trumpeted what it saw as the country's refusal to "surrender".
But the cooling of tension elicited mixed reactions from US business leaders dealing with China.
Some were happy to see the prospect of damaging tariffs fade, while others said it would be difficult for Washington to rebuild momentum to address what they see as troubling Chinese policies.
A trade war was "on hold" after the world's largest economies agreed to drop their tariff threats while they work on a wider trade agreement, US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said yesterday.
Beijing and Washington said over the weekend that they would keep talking about measures under which China would import more energy and agricultural commodities from the US to narrow the $335 billion annual US goods and services trade deficit with China.
Speaking at a daily briefing, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said both countries had clearly recognised that the reaching of a consensus was good for all.
"China has never hoped for any tensions between China and the United States, in the trade or other arenas," Lu said.
During an initial round of talks this month in Beijing, the US demanded that China reduce its trade surplus by $200 billion. No dollar figure was cited in the countries' joint statement over the weekend.
Some in US business groups who had been pushing for tougher measures to pressure China to ease long-standing market barriers on US companies expressed disappointment.
