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Beijing ‘has no problem’ with Donald Trump’s softer tone over Chinese investments in US

Chinese government will be satisfied with Washington’s proposals ‘as long as they don’t discriminate against us’

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US President Donald Trunp has rowed back proposals to target Chinese investments in the US. Photo: EPA-EFE

Beijing is happy with Donald Trump’s softer stance on Chinese investments in the US, a senior official said on Thursday, because his new proposals do not single out Chinese companies.

Xiao Yaqing, the chairman of the Asset Supervision and Administration Commission, the regulator of the biggest state industrial conglomerates, said the Chinese government would not be angry “as long as they don’t discriminate against us”.

On Wednesday Trump backed away from a threat to directly target Chinese investors as part of an effort to prevent the acquisition of advanced technologies that threatened US national security.

“We don’t see any problem … we always follow international rules and the laws of the investment destination countries,” Xiao told reporters on the sidelines of a conference on Belt and Road Initiative in Hong Kong in reply to a question over possible stricter screening of Chinese investments in the US.

Xiao’s comments may signal a further easing in hostilities between the world’s two largest economies following Trump’s shift.

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