With reports circulating of a breakthrough in China-US trade talks, the offshore yuan jumped in value against the US dollar even as details of the dialogue’s outcome remained undisclosed.
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After settling at 7.24 per US dollar at close of business Friday, China’s offshore currency had moved to 7.22 by Monday morning.
China’s central bank has set the fixing rate for the onshore yuan at 7.2066 against the US dollar on Monday, compared to 7.2095 last Friday.
Optimism has risen in the market, buoyed by expectations of constructive and tangible results in the negotiations between the world’s two largest economies.
Both sides separately said the meetings yielded “substantial progress”, with a joint statement expected Monday.
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The two-day talks – attended by Chinese Vice-Premier He Lifeng, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer in Geneva, Switzerland – were the first formal negotiations on trade since Trump ramped up tariff rates on Chinese goods after taking office in January.
The White House has slapped new tariffs of 145 per cent on China this year, while Beijing has imposed 125 per cent levies on US goods in return. The triple-digit duties have functionally halted bilateral trade, derailing global supply chains and sowing the seeds for a prolonged recession.