Chinese officials, influential people and state-owned media announced the initial trade agreement and 90-day tariffs with the U.S. suspension on Monday, a victory and a defense of Beijing's negotiation strategy.
They think their provocative public stance works - that's the main reason they were able to reach a deal with Swiss U.S. officials to a relatively small offer.
"China's corporate countermeasures and firm stance are very effective," said a social media account related to China's National Broadcasting Corporation CCTV.
In the eyes of the Chinese public, Beijing negotiators seem to convince President Donald Trump's administration to phase out most of the 145% tariff rate imposed by Trump and cut it to 30%.
In exchange, China promised to revoke most anti-elections announced by the United States.
On social media, Chinese users are touting the deal. One tag, #Uschinasuspending 24% tariffs on 90 days have 420 million views on Weibo.
The line refers to the 24% figure cited near the top of the joint statement issued by Washington and Beijing.
Overall, a 90-day pause reduced U.S. import tariffs from 145% of Chinese goods to 30%, while Chinese tariffs on U.S. goods from 125% to 10%.
Chinese social media user Chun Feng ran away and said, "Our ancestors were not in trouble, why should we give up what we have?" There are thousands of likes now.
Beijing has also used trade agreements to try to argue with the world that it is a responsible trading partner, although China's negotiation scripts are often frustrating for international business communities and trading partners.
Foreign executives and officials complained about "commitment fatigue" to Beijing, and officials in Beijing seemed content to talk about cooperation while taking relatively little action.
To align with the script of the negotiation, Beijing said it would work with the Trump administration to adopt a new "advisory mechanism" to maintain dialogue on trade and other economic issues.
The measures agreed in Geneva officially came into effect on Wednesday, but Beijing has quietly granted exemptions before holding talks for some companies operating locally.
China also agreed to "take all necessary administrative measures to suspend or delete non-tariff countermeasures." This includes the latest round of stricter export curbs for rare earths imposed on Beijing. Minerals are crucial to the U.S. industry.
However, China sent some mixed signals on metals on Monday. For national security reasons, the Ministry of Commerce reiterated its crackdown on smuggling rare earths and said that "foreign entities" are partly responsible.
The United States-China trade agreement has temporarily eased the escalating trade war and allowed global economic flows.
Stock markets around the world surged after Beijing and Washington announced the deal.
As negotiations in Switzerland over the weekend have advanced, Beijing remains firmly stating that it will not make a deal with U.S. officials with its own priorities.
“We will firmly protect our legitimate interests and uphold international fairness and justice,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said before the deal.
The Commerce Department called the deal "an important step" on Monday, but poked the Trump administration, saying the U.S. should "completely correct its unilateral tariff practice."
Trump administration officials also described the deal as a "historical trade victory" in the United States.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on CNBC's "Squawk Box" on Monday that the two sides are expected to meet again sometime in the next "weeks" to negotiate a "richer deal."
CNBC's Eunice Yoon reports Beijing and Erin Doherty from Washington, D.C.