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Stock markets diverged on Wednesday and the dollar slid further from recent highs as investors awaited earnings from US tech giants and the latest interest-rate call from the Federal Reserve.Market watchers also kept tabs on China-US developments after the two countries agreed further talks to extend their tariffs truce.”The Fed isn’t expected to change rates but the market will analyse the accompanying commentary for signals on what could happen next,” said Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell.Following Wednesday’s update “the central bank will certainly be watching (US) jobs data on Friday like a hawk, and that result will feed into its future monetary policy decisions”, Mould added.”All the while, we’ve got four of the Magnificent Seven mega-cap US tech stocks reporting over the next two days. They have the power to move markets and any signs of weakness could damage investor sentiment.After Asia’s major stock markets closed mixed, London was down slightly around midday.But Paris and Frankfurt climbed as official data showed the eurozone economy unexpectedly expanded in the second quarter, which preceded a weekend tariffs deal between the US and the EU, which had also bolstered sentiment.After a deal was also reached with Japan over the past week, focus has been on negotiations between Washington and Beijing to extend an agreement to lower eye-watering levies that threatened the world’s largest economies.The two-day meeting in Stockholm ended without a resolution but with the US team voicing optimism they could announce a second 90-day truce.The general feeling is that the moratorium will be extended but there remains some nervousness, with many other countries still to reach agreements ahead of Trump’s August 1 deadline.Among the countries still to reach a deal are Brazil, which faces 50 percent tariffs, India and South Korea.Trump said Tuesday that New Delhi could face a rate of 20 to 25 percent, adding: “India has been a good friend, but India has charged basically more tariffs than almost any other country. You just can’t do that.”Major earnings releases from tech titans Meta and Microsoft are due Wednesday, with Amazon and Apple coming Thursday.As well as the results, focus will be on the firms’ forecasts in light of Trump’s tariffs and their colossal investments in artificial intelligence.In London, shares in British bank HSBC and military equipment maker BAE Systems dropped around 2.5 percent following mixed earnings updates Wednesday.Oil prices fell, having rallied Tuesday after Trump reiterated his warning of new sanctions on Russia, a major energy power, unless it reaches a truce deal with Ukraine.- Key figures at around 1100 GMT -London – FTSE 100: DOWN 0.3 percent at 9,112.42 pointsParis – CAC 40: UP 0.5 percent at 7,896.33 Frankfurt – DAX: UP 0.2 percent at 24,261.10Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.1 percent at 40,654.70 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 1.4 percent at 25,176.93 (close)Shanghai – Composite: UP 0.2 percent at 3,615.72 (close)New York – Dow: DOWN 0.5 percent at 44,632.99 (close)Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1540 from $1.1554 on TuesdayPound/dollar: UP at $1.3365 from $1.3357Dollar/yen: DOWN at 148.19 yen from 148.50 yenEuro/pound: DOWN at 86.37 pence from 86.47 penceWest Texas Intermediate: DOWN 1.0 percent at $68.52 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: DOWN 1.0 percent at $71.80 per barrel

Bank giant HSBC said Wednesday that group profits fell in the first half on higher costs but noted that it was “well positioned” to deal with the effects of US tariffs.Profit after tax dropped by one third to $12.4 billion compared with the first six months of 2024, hit by restructuring costs and an impairment on its stake in a Chinese lender.The London-headquartered bank is months into a shakeup aimed at simplifying the group’s structure and delivering $1.5 billion in annual cost savings in 2027.It comes as the bank sector faces volatile trading as a result of US President Donald Trump’s tariffs onslaught.”We have delivered these results in an ongoing period of uncertainty,” chief executive Georges Elhedery said in call with reporters Wednesday.”It has become increasingly important to simplify the organisation and make it more agile,” he added.The bank recorded a $2.1 billion impairment linked to its stake in China’s Bank of Communications, which was recapitalised by the country’s finance ministry this year.HSBC last year reported a $3 billion charge on the value of its stake in the Chinese lender, which was hit by property loan writeoffs.Elhedery said that HSBC is “making positive progress” in its structural overhaul, which began in October, shortly after he became chief executive.Operating expenses increased four percent, which the bank partly attributed to restructuring and related costs. The bank generates most of its revenue in Asia and has spent several years pivoting to the region, vowing to develop its wealth business and target fast-growing markets.HSBC shares fell around 2.5 percent in morning deals on London’s top-tier FTSE 100 index despite a dividend payment and plans to repurchase up to $3 billion of shares.- Missed expectations -Elhedery said HSBC is “well positioned to manage the changes and uncertainties prevalent within the global environment in which we operate, including in relation to tariffs”.He noted that a “broader macroeconomic deterioration” could impact returns in future years.Profit before tax fell more than 26 percent to $15.8 billion, falling short of analyst expectations.First-half revenue declined nine percent to $34.1 billion.”Repositioning HSBC is not a simple task given its size and scale,” said Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell.”There are also challenges in its priority regions such as property market weakness in Hong Kong and mainland China.”It means investors must continue to brace themselves for setbacks in its results well into 2026,” he added.In Hong Kong, HSBC shares in were down 3.8 percent at the close.Morningstar senior equity analyst Michael Makdad said the bank “needs to make sure that shareholders in Asia remain on board with the strategic direction… centred on simplification and intensive cost-cutting, but without a radical overhaul of the entire business model”.Makdad added that its immediate challenge is to find a replacement for board chairman Mark Tucker, who will retire by the end of 2025 after eight years helping to steer Europe’s largest bank.

Police in Shanghai busted a gang making and selling fake Labubus this month, detaining eight people and 5,000 counterfeit toys worth $1.7 million, local state-owned media reported. Made by Beijing-based toymaker Pop Mart, Labubu dolls have become a must-have item internationally, adorning the handbags of celebrities such as Rihanna and Dua Lipa.The furry, fanged creatures, which typically sell for around $40, are released in limited quantities and have caused frenzies at stores around the world. Knock-offs — many of which are also made in China — have flooded online platforms, dubbed “Lafufus” by social media users.The Shanghai bust in early July uncovered 12-million-yuan ($1.7-million) worth of fake Pop Mart toys, state-run Shanghai Daily reported late Tuesday.Pop Mart notified police when a customer reported that one purchased online was in fact fake.This led to the discovery of an online store that sold fans, speakers and gaming consoles — but was also a front for selling the counterfeits. Police raided a warehouse, detaining eight people and the 5,000 toys, complete with forged trademarks and fake anti-counterfeit stickers, the report said. It is not the first time the fluffy monsters have been associated with crime. In Singapore, CCTV footage captured a family stealing Labubu dolls from a claw machine last year, according to online media outlet AsiaOne.And in June, burglars broke into a store in California and took several Labubu dolls along with electronics and other valuables, US news outlet ABC reported.

China said Wednesday that recently announced subsidies to support families with young children will provide a much-needed economic boost, as Beijing seeks to promote spending and avert a demographic crisis.Authorities in the world’s second-largest economy on Monday declared the new nationwide policy, which offers parents the equivalent of around $500 per child under the age of three per year.”The childcare subsidy system can directly increase people’s cash income,” Guo Yanhong, vice minister of China’s National Health Commission (NHC), said at a press conference in Beijing on Wednesday.The measure “will better protect and improve people’s livelihoods”, Guo said.”At the same time, it will help promote a virtuous cycle of improving people’s livelihoods and economic development, adding new impetus to the sustained and healthy development of the economy,” she added.Chinese leaders have in recent years struggled to breathe life into the economy, beset by a yearslong property crisis that has spooked would-be homebuyers and dissuaded many people from having children.Beijing has since late last year introduced a series of aggressive pro-consumption policy measures — including key rate cuts and cancellations of certain restrictions on homebuying — but results have been limited.The slump comes as worrying demographic trends have become more pronounced.China’s population declined by 1.39 million last year, and marriage rates now sit at record lows.At Wednesday’s press conference in Beijing, NHC official Wang Haidong acknowledged that the country has “gradually shifted from a phase of population growth to a phase of population decline”.”To adapt to this new demographic landscape, the country is accelerating the improvement of its fertility support policy system, continuously reducing burdens on families of childbirth, raising children and educating them,” said Wang.This, added Wang, would help in “promoting the construction of a fertility-friendly society”.Zichun Huang, China economist at Capital Economics, told AFP this week that the sum of $500 per child was too small to have a “near-term impact on the birth rate or consumption”, but the policy could lay the groundwork for further child subsidies in the future.A finance ministry official said 90 billion yuan ($12.5 billion) had been set aside as a preliminary budget for the new scheme this year.Also on Wednesday, China’s top leaders gathered for a meeting on the economy chaired by President Xi Jinping, state media reported.In a speech, Xi noted “numerous risks and challenges” facing the economy, calling for the government to “strengthen macroeconomic policies and intensify them at the appropriate time”, state news agency Xinhua reported.

Markets were mixed Wednesday as investors kept tabs on China-US developments after they agreed to further talks to extend their trade truce, while eyes were also on tech earnings and a key Federal Reserve meeting.After deals were reached with the European Union and Japan over the past week, focus has been on negotiations between Washington and Beijing to extend an agreement to lower eye-watering tariffs that threatened the world’s top economies.The two-day meeting in Stockholm ended without a resolution but with the US team voicing optimism they could announce a second 90-day truce.Neither side has made public any details, although US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said President Donald Trump would have the “final call” on any extension.Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called the tone of the talks “very constructive”.Chris Weston at Pepperstone said: “Progress on a further extension remains the well-subscribed base case, but Trump holds the final call on that, and we note there is still ample time until we reach the deadline of 12 August.”For now, the markets are unperturbed by what they hear and have a further impending 90-day extension fully priced.”The general feeling is that the moratorium will be extended but there remains some nervousness, with many other countries still to reach agreements ahead of Trump’s August 1 deadline.Among those countries still to reach a deal are Brazil, which faces 50 percent tariffs, India and South Korea.The president on Tuesday said New Delhi could face a 20-25 percent rate, adding: “India has been a good friend, but India has charged basically more tariffs than almost any other country.”You just can’t do that.”Tokyo, Hong Kong, Singapore, Wellington, Jakarta and Manila were down while Shanghai, Sydney, Seoul, Wellington, Taipei, Mumbai and Bangkok rose.Paris rose as data showed French economic growth topped forecasts in the second quarter and accelerated from the first three months of the year. London and Frankfurt edged down.Major earnings releases from tech titans Meta and Microsoft are due Wednesday, with Amazon and Apple coming Thursday.”It’s been a solid US reporting season so far, but these mega-cap names need to run it hot and blow the lights out, given the bar to please has been sufficiently raised,” Pepperstone’s Weston said.As well as the results, focus will be on the firms’ forecasts in light of Trump’s tariffs and their colossal investments in artificial intelligence.The Fed is widely expected to stand pat on interest rates Wednesday, but investors will be looking for any hint of a cut in September after recent economic data indicated some softening in the labour market.Oil prices held Tuesday’s gains of more than three percent — their biggest in six weeks, according to Bloomberg News — after Trump reiterated his warning of fresh sanctions on Russia unless it reaches a truce deal with Ukraine.- Key figures at around 0810 GMT -Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.1 percent at 40,654.70 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 1.4 percent at 25,176.93 (close)Shanghai – Composite: UP 0.2 percent at 3,615.72 (close)London – FTSE 100: DOWN 0.4 percent at 9,096.01 Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1556 from $1.1554 on TuesdayPound/dollar: UP at $1.3364 from $1.3357Dollar/yen: DOWN at 148.01 yen from 148.50 yenEuro/pound: UP at 86.48 pence from 86.47 penceWest Texas Intermediate: UP 0.3 percent at $69.40 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: UP 0.4 percent at $72.79 per barrelNew York – Dow: DOWN 0.5 percent at 44,632.99 (close)

Beyond dancing robots and eager-to-help digital avatars, Shanghai’s World AI Conference saw China stake its claim to global artificial intelligence leadership and frame itself as a clear alternative to the United States.Assumptions that the US was far ahead in the fast-moving field were upended this year when Chinese start-up DeepSeek unveiled a chatbot that matched top American systems for an apparent fraction of the cost.With AI now at the forefront of the superpowers’ tech race, the World AI Conference (WAIC) that ended Tuesday saw China set out its case to take charge on shaping its global governance too.China, the United States and other major economies are “engaged in a marathon at Formula  One speed”, said Steven Hai, assistant professor of tech innovation at Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University.”Which country will attain the upper hand can only be assessed dynamically over the course of development.”China and the United States dominate the AI sector — only 10 to 15 percent of models developed in recent years were built without either’s participation, according to Epoch AI, a non-profit research institute.While US companies like Google and OpenAI are still industry-leading, the institute labelled 78 percent of Chinese models “state-of-the-art” compared to 70 percent of models built with American participation.Beijing’s stated aim is to become the world’s leading AI “innovation centre” by 2030.”Now China is neck-and-neck with the United States in terms of core tech, that play (for global leadership) is more relevant than ever,” said Tom Nunlist, associate director for tech and data policy at Trivium China.”With a solid AI offering and the US turning inward, the question is will Beijing’s vision gain greater global traction?”In May, Microsoft’s Brad Smith told the US Senate that “the number-one factor” in the tech race “is whose technology is most broadly adopted in the rest of the world”.- ‘Sovereign AI’ -China’s offer is technical and economical. “One of the biggest differences (with the US sector) is that most of the leading models in China… are open-weight and open-source,” former Google CEO Eric Schmidt told an audience at WAIC. That means they can be adapted by other countries to fit their own needs, said George Chen, partner at Washington-based policy consultancy The Asia Group.”We already see some countries like Mongolia, Kazakhstan, even Pakistan are trying to adopt the DeepSeek model to build their own,” he said.”China has a chance to win in the aspect of sovereign AI to export its model to those countries.”The comparative low cost of Chinese technology — software but also hardware, for example through firms like Huawei — will be a big factor, especially for developing countries, Chen added.On Monday another Chinese start-up, Zhipu, announced its new AI model — also open-source — would cost less than DeepSeek to use.In June, OpenAI accused Zhipu of having close ties with Chinese authorities and noted it was working with governments and state-owned firms across Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Africa.”The goal is to lock Chinese systems and standards into emerging markets before US or European rivals can,” it said.Washington has moved to protect its lead in AI, expanding efforts to curb exports of state-of-the-art chips to China in recent years.”While limiting China’s share of the global AI hardware market, (these measures) have accelerated indigenous innovation and led Chinese firms to exploit regulatory loopholes,” said assistant professor Hai, referring to “rife” smuggling and circumvention. – Issues of trust? -Other challenges to homegrown firms include the closed nature of the Chinese internet, and “general issues of trust when it comes to using Chinese tech”, Trivium’s Nunlist said. At WAIC, China sought to present itself as a responsible power.  Premier Li Qiang emphasised the risks of AI and pledged to share technology with other nations, especially developing ones.  His remarks contrasted sharply with US President Donald Trump’s aggressive low-regulation “AI Action Plan” launched just days before and explicitly aimed at cementing US dominance in the field. China released its own action plan at WAIC, following a meeting attended by delegates from dozens of countries.Li also announced the establishment of a China-led organisation for international AI cooperation.However, China’s foreign ministry did not respond to a request from AFP for details on the set-up of the organisation — including any international participants — and several foreign delegates said they had not been briefed on the announcement beforehand. Analyst Grace Shao wrote it was clear AI was still in its “infancy stage”.”You can sense that vibrant energy but also the immaturity of the space,” she wrote on Substack.”There just shouldn’t be a definitive conclusion on who is ‘winning’ yet.”

Stablecoin excitement has gripped Hong Kong as the city prepares to launch a licensing system for the less volatile type of cryptocurrency, but authorities warn against overplaying its future role in financial systems.The digital units have been touted as a cheaper, easier way to carry out monetary transactions — and their popularity is soaring, with more than US$270 billion in circulation worldwide.Unlike the heady highs and lows of bitcoin, the value of most stablecoins is kept steady by being linked to an existing national currency — mainly the dollar — or a commodity like gold.Stablecoins are useful internationally because they enable fast, low-cost cross-border payments, handy in markets where hard currency is limited, such as Argentina and Nigeria.The tokens, bought and sold on digital exchanges, are also used as a safe way for crypto investors to station their profits, instead of converting to cash.”The size of the stablecoin market has reached a level where the cash flows have geopolitical implications,” said Paul Brody, global blockchain leader at consulting firm EY.More than 99 percent of stablecoin assets are in US dollars, so for other countries “if you’re not a player, you could find yourself frozen out”, Brody told AFP.The US House of Representatives this month passed an act codifying stablecoin use, which Senator Bill Hagerty said will “ensure the dominance of the US dollar”.Hong Kong’s own stablecoin regulations come in on Friday, part of a push to position itself as an Asian crypto hub as US President Donald Trump’s support for the sector fuels a global resurgence.- ‘Overly idealistic’ -“The opportunities are massive,” said Rita Liu, whose payment company is developing a Hong Kong dollar-denominated stablecoin in a government-run trial.”There’s a wave of legitimising the digital asset industry… Hong Kong is trying to be at the forefront of that wave,” said Liu, chief executive of RD Technologies.Crypto trading has been banned since 2021 in mainland China, which sees it as a “bit too close to gambling”, Brody said.He and others think stablecoins could prove more acceptable to Beijing, which has experimented with its own “e-yuan” central bank digital currency.Officials may first want to see how things go in the semi-autonomous territory of Hong Kong.So far, “a few dozen institutions” have expressed interest in issuing stablecoins or requested more information, Hong Kong Monetary Authority head Eddie Yue said last week.But he called for the public to “rein in the euphoria” over the new bill, as “in the initial stage, we will at most grant a handful of stablecoin issuer licences”.”Some discussion on stablecoins may be overly idealistic,” Yue warned, especially around their “potential to disrupt the mainstream financial system”.The hype can inflate companies’ stock prices, he added, a point echoed by Lily King of crypto company Cobo.”Some applications may be influenced by public relations strategies, as stablecoin-related news often drives market sentiment,” she said.- Bigger problems -RD’s Liu, a former senior manager at Chinese payment platform Alipay, feels that “some of it is fake hype, and some is real”, fuelled by “people’s hope in this industry”.Stablecoins account for about seven percent of the global cryptocurrency market capitalisation, according to CoinGecko.If they eventually become “a mainstay of the plumbing” in finance, Hong Kong could enjoy something of a “first-mover advantage”, said Jonas Goltermann at Capital Economics.Japan and Singapore already regulate stablecoins, while South Korea is exploring the possibility.While stablecoin issuers usually assure buyers their currency is backed up by real-world reserves, they are not risk-free, and sometimes deviate from their pegged value due to market fluctuations, tech issues or problems with the underlying assets.There is also the risk that stablecoins will become “more of a niche product” if banks work out how to make their own programmable money, Goltermann said.”It makes sense for Hong Kong to try anything — it’s kind of on a declining path, for reasons that are not to do with technology. It’s mostly about the politics, and its relationship with China,” he told AFP.”It’s not like stablecoins are a silver bullet that can fix that. But that doesn’t mean it can’t help.”

Stock markets were mixed on Tuesday as investors started turning their attention from trade deals to a slew of company results coming this week.New York struggled, while in Europe, London, Paris and Frankfurt all closed higher.In Asia, Shanghai ended higher but Hong Kong and Tokyo lost ground.The muddled picture came as investors continue to digest the implications of a US-EU trade deal announced over the weekend that many European capitals viewed as lopsided in Washington’s favor.Tuesday also saw Chinese and US officials huddle in Sweden for a second day of talks aimed at extending a trade truce to avoid the return of triple-digit tariffs on each of their countries from August 12.Representatives from Beijing and Washington signaled further talks were likely following a round of negotiations in Stockholm. But a top US trade official stressed that President Donald Trump would make any “final call.”The dollar continued its advance, especially against the euro, while oil prices kept rising strongly.The euro has “suffered a nasty battering… as investors questioned just how positive the US-EU trade deal was for the European Union”, said David Morrison, senior market analyst at Trade Nation.For many investors, though, the focus this week was now more on company earning reports.Tech heavyweights are stealing the spotlight, with Meta and Microsoft to give results on Wednesday, followed by Amazon and Apple on Thursday.Their massive — and extremely costly — investment race in artificial intelligence underpinned much of the action.Attention is also focused on the Federal Reserve.The central bank is expected to keep rates unchanged, but could hint that an interest rate cut will be more likely in September. Trump has lambasted Fed Chair Jerome Powell for not cutting interest rates.US mergers and acquisitions heated up with Union Pacific announcing a deal to acquire rival Norfolk Southern for $85 billion, in what would be first rail company connecting the two ocean coasts of the United States.But shares of both companies fell following the deal’s unveiling. Briefing.com said the deal’s prospects were “clouded” by several concerns, including expected regulatory scrutiny.Among companies reporting results, AstraZeneca rose three percent after reporting strong earnings.But Denmark’s Novo Nordisk, known for its blockbuster diabetes and weight-loss treatments Ozempic and Wegovy, shed 23 percent on lowered forecasts. It has been fighting US authorization allowing pharmacies to create “compound” copycat versions of its drugs because of shortages due to high demand.Merck, the US pharma company, pared a drop in its shares but was still down four percent after saying it would axe jobs under a restructuring aimed at cutting $3 billion in costs a year by 2027.Swedish music streamer Spotify’s shares slid 11 percent after it reported an operating profit that far missed its target.- Key figures at around 2015 GMT -New York – Dow: DOWN 0.5 percent at 44,632.99 (close)New York – S&P 500: DOWN 0.3 percent at 6,370.86 (close)New York – Nasdaq Composite: DOWN 0.4 percent at 21,098.29 (close)London – FTSE 100: UP 0.6 percent at 9,136.32 (close)Paris – CAC 40: UP 0.7 percent at 7,857.36 (close)Frankfurt – DAX: UP 1.0 percent at 24,217.37 (close)Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.8 percent at 40,674.55 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 0.2 percent at 25,524.45 (close)Shanghai – Composite: UP 0.3 percent at 3,609.71 (close)Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1554 from $1.1589 on MondayPound/dollar: UP at $1.3357 from $1.3356Dollar/yen: DOWN at 148.50 yen from 148.53 yenEuro/pound: DOWN at 86.47 pence from 86.77 penceBrent North Sea Crude: UP 3.5 percent at $72.51 per barrelWest Texas Intermediate: UP 3.8 percent at $69.21 per barrel

China and the United States agreed Tuesday to hold further talks on extending their tariff truce, but a top US trade official stressed that President Donald Trump would make any “final call.”The world’s top two economies met for a second day of negotiations in Stockholm, with both sides seeking to avert tariffs from returning to sky-high levels that had ground trade between the rivals to an effective standstill.The meeting in a Swedish government building, led on the Chinese side by Vice Premier He Lifeng and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent for the Americans, ended without a resolution but with the US side voicing optimism.Neither government has made public any details from the talks, which started on Monday, although US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said Trump would have the “final call” on any extension in the truce.”Nothing has been agreed until we speak with President Trump,” added Bessent, calling the tone of the talks “very constructive”.The negotiations are taking place in the wake of a trade deal struck over the weekend that set US tariffs on most European Union imports at 15 percent, but none on American goods going to the EU.The truce between China and the United States has temporarily set fresh US duties on Chinese goods at 30 percent, while Chinese levies on trade in the other direction stand at 10 percent.That accord, reached in Geneva in May, brought down triple-digit tariffs each side had levelled at the other after a trade war sparked by Trump spiralled into a tit-for-tat bilateral escalation.The 90-day truce is meant to end on August 12. But there are indications both delegations want to use the Stockholm talks to push the date back further.The South China Morning Post, citing sources on both sides, reported on Sunday that Washington and Beijing are expected to extend their tariff pause by a further 90 days.Trump said he would be briefed again by Bessent on Wednesday. “We’ll either approve it or not,” he told reporters aboard Air Force One as he returned from Scotland.- Trump’s threats -Separately, Trump has threatened to hit dozens of other countries with stiffer tariffs from Friday this week unless they reach trade deals with Washington.Among them are Brazil and India, with the South American giant facing a threat of 50 percent tariffs.Asked about Friday’s deadline, Bessent told CNBC: “It’s not the end of the world if these snapback tariffs are on for anywhere from a few days to a few weeks, as long as the countries are moving forward and trying to negotiate in good faith.”Trump has already announced deal outlines with five countries — Britain, Vietnam, Japan, Indonesia and the Philippines — as well as the one with the 27-nation EU.Beijing says it wants to see “reciprocity” in its trade with the United States. Foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said dialogue was needed “to reduce misunderstandings”.The previous round of China-US talks was held in London.Analysts said many of the trade deals Trump has been publicising were leaning more on optics than on details.Stephen Innes, managing partner at SPI Asset Management, a firm that advises on currency exchange and commodities, said an extension of the 90-day truce between China and the United States could reinforce that view.”That truce could set the stage for a Trump – (President) Xi (Jinping) handshake later this year — another risk-on carrot for markets to chew,” he said.