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The
two met on Sunday on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic
Cooperation (APEC) forum.
Lighthizer said in the meeting with Zhong Shan that trade wars
are not in the interest of either country, according to the
statement from China's commerce ministry.
Disagreements over global trade negotiations came to the fore at
the APEC forum, which failed to agree on its usual joint
statement after U.S. opposition to wording on fighting
protectionism.
With the U.S. balking at multilateral trade agreements, Asian
trade ministers met to discuss the China-led Regional
Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), which would create a
free trade area of more than 3.5 billion people, bringing
together China, India, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New
Zealand as well as Southeast Asian nations.
RCEP talks include the largest geographic area, the most dynamic
economies, and the largest population of any regional trade
pact, Zhong said, according to a statement on the website of the
ministry of commerce.
He said RCEP parties should accelerate RCEP talks and that all
sides should show more flexibility to overcome differences.
(Reporting by Beijing Monitoring Desk and Elias Glenn; Editing
by Shri Navaratnam)
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