Photo:Xinhua

China-US trade tensions will be less fierce in 2020, although disrupting factors like issues concerning Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and Taiwan island will remain amid the hubbub generated by the US presidential election next year, an expert said Saturday.

Da Wei, director of the Beijing-based China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations' Institute of American Studies, spoke at the Global Times annual forum in Beijing.

Da said "Compared with 2019, next year will be a relief year for both sides."

Commenting on the phase one trade agreement reached a week ago, Da said the move is more important than the content. "It shows the two sides are willing to continue talks under such a difficult circumstance," he said, noting that the two countries may be able to accept a compromised relationship.

"From the deal, we can also see that China's central government is extremely sober about the direction of China-US relations," Da said.

However, Wang Xuedong, a professor at Sun Yat-sen University, based in Guangzhou in South China, said at the same forum that the US will ratchet up the trade war with China next year. "[Trade war] hasn't come to an end… the US won't end [tensions with China] and will 'set fire' everywhere," he said.

Global Times