Chinese Vice Premier Liu He, also chief of the Chinese side of the China-U.S. comprehensive economic dialogue, held a video conversation with U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Tuesday morning.

The two sides conducted practical, candid and constructive exchanges on macroeconomic situation and bilateral and multilateral cooperation.

The two sides agreed that as the world economic recovery is at a critical juncture, it is important for China and the United States to strengthen macro policy communication and coordination.

The Chinese side expressed concern over issues including the lifting of additional tariffs and sanctions by the U.S. side and fair treatment of Chinese enterprises.

The two sides also agreed to maintain communication. 

Earlier in October, Liu has also held virtual talks with U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai, when they exchanged views on the implementation of the Sino-U.S. economic and trade agreement, expressed their own concerns and agreed to resolve each other’s reasonable concerns through consultation.

‘The two sides focused on the economic and trade communication in Liu and Tai talks,’ said a column published by Taoran Note on Xinhuanet on Tuesday. ‘However, in Liu’s talks with Yellen, the two sides exchanged views again on ‘macroeconomic situation and cooperation in multilateral and bilateral fields’ after their June talks.’

Last week, China’s Ministry of Commerce said that the country would welcome a move by the U.S. to lift tariffs on some Chinese goods, adding that the two sides should work together to create conditions for the implementation of the phase-one trade deal.

China and the U.S. signed the trade deal in January 2020 as part of phased mitigation efforts over the tariff battle launched by the U.S. in 2018 that involves the world’s two largest economies.

According to the deal, China will purchase an additional $200 billion worth of U.S. goods and services, including $32 billion in U.S. farm products, during the two-year period from January 1, 2020 through December 31, 2021.

As of August, China’s purchases of covered agricultural products reached 92 percent of the year-to-date target in the deal, data from the Chinese import statistics showed, or 89 percent using the U.S. export data, a tracker of think tank Peterson Institute for International Economics showed.