China says will meet with US for trade meeting in January

China's commerce ministry says Beijing and Washington have made plans for face-to-face consultations over trade in January.

Face-to-face trade talks between China and the US could take place in January. Source: Getty Images

China and the US have made plans for face-to-face consultations over trade in January, the Chinese commerce ministry says, as the world's two biggest economies advanced efforts to resolve a months-long trade war.

Consultations through "intensive" telephone calls will continue in the meantime, Gao Feng, spokesman at the commerce ministry, told reporters, adding that talks have been steadily moving forward despite the Christmas break in the United States.

Chinese Ministry of Commerce spokesman Gao Feng says the talks are progressing well. Source: AAP

"Even as the US side is in the Christmas holiday period, China and US economic and trade teams have been in close communication, and the consultations are progressing in an orderly manner as scheduled," Gao said, when asked about progress on trade negotiations on Thursday.

Gao did not comment directly when asked to confirm a media report on a US trade delegation visit scheduled for the week of January 7.

"The two sides have indeed made specific arrangements for face-to-face consultations in January in addition to continuing intensive telephone consultations," he said, without elaborating.

US and Chinese officials have spoken by phone in recent weeks, but a meeting next month would be the first in-person talks since US President Donald Trump met his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, in Buenos Aires on December 1.

Trump and Xi agreed to stop escalating tit-for-tat tariffs that have disrupted the flow of hundreds of billions of dollars of goods between the two nations. The two leaders also agreed to launch new talks while the United States delayed a planned January 1 tariff increase until March.

In response, China has resumed purchases of US soybeans for the first time in six months, even though hefty tariffs on US cargoes remain in place.

China has also said it will suspend additional tariffs on US-made vehicles and auto parts for three months starting January 1, adding that it hopes both sides can speed up negotiations to remove all additional tariffs on each other's goods.