Chinese state media said that holding trade talks with the Trump administration would not be "no harm", indicating that Beijing's position has become softer as both sides are looking for ways to get rid of the war to damage the tariffs.
The gesture is because the consequences of the trade war have begun to show in China's economic data, while factory activity in April has dried up export orders since 2023, the most since 2023.
Beijing does not need to talk to the United States before Washington takes substantial action, Yuyuan Tantian, an account linked to the state broadcaster CCTV, said in a social media post on a Chinese Weibo platform Thursday.
"But if the United States wants to interact with China, there is no harm to China at the moment," it said.
The lengthy post quoted unnamed sources that pointed out that U.S. officials "responsible helping China through various channels, hoping to negotiate tariffs with China."
It also highlighted U.S. economic data, including air ports and GDP contraction in the first quarter, saying Washington is "absolutely a more anxious party to negotiate."
"If it's a conversation, the door is open," Yuyuan Tantian said. "If it's a fight, we'll go until the end."
Analysts say the language is a softening of Beijing's stance starting last week, when the Commerce Department said the U.S. would need to impose a steep expropriation on China before negotiations began.
Andrew Polk, co-founder of the consulting group Trivium China, said the position appears to be "setting the foundation for the dining table".
“By portraying America as a more eager, anxious, stressful party, they try to portray themselves as a place from power,” he said. “This should do well with the domestic audience and give them cover to start the negotiations.”
Zichen Wang, author of the Beijing and Globalization Think Tank researcher at the Beijing Center for China and Globalization Think Tanks, said Yuyuan Tantian’s position and another social media claim suggest that China appears to be ready for trade negotiations.
"Through social media accounts, this method of signaling through social media accounts remains relatively novel," he said, although Wang noted that Beijing also used social media accounts for signals during the first trade war with the United States.
Wang added that the United States must “express respect, avoid hostile speech and show true sincerity” to achieve any meaningful progress.
Washington and Beijing have tit tat upgrades after Trump began raising tariffs on Chinese goods in February. The additional tax has reached 145%, while Beijing imposed a 125% retaliation tax.
Trump told reporters on Wednesday that he hopes to talk to Chinese President Xi Jinping at some point. Trump has made several claims on negotiations with China in recent weeks that people familiar with the matter say it is untrue.
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer told Fox News Wednesday that the United States and China have not had any trade talks since Trump took office in January.
Trump wants to negotiate a trade agreement directly with Xi Jinping, but Chinese officials made it clear to his administration that both sides must reach some kind of deal before the two leaders speak.
"Now...they are having great difficulties because their factories are not doing business," Trump said, adding that the United States can do it without Chinese goods.
“Someone said, ‘Oh, the shelves are going to be open.’ Well, maybe the kids will have two dolls instead of 30 dolls.
His comments follow direct warnings from large retailers including Walmart and Target, who told Trump at a meeting at the White House that the trade war would result in empty shelves at some point.
Although the two countries remained deadlocked in the trade war, the two sides mitigated the impact of certain tariffs by exempting key commodities such as iPhone and chemical imports.
Despite this, the deadlock began to attack both economies. In China, traffic at U.S. ports has dropped rapidly, and factories that rely on exports have begun to deal with workers.
"China is currently in the endurance test between China and the United States, and China's key pain point is the health of the job market," said Lynn Song, chief economist at Big China.