Photo:Global Times

China hopes the hard-won phase one trade agreement between the world's two largest economies can be effectively implemented despite escalating China-US tensions on a slew of issues, a Chinese official said Thursday.

In a regular briefing on Thursday, Hua Chunying, spokesperson for China's Foreign Ministry, said that the deal is beneficial for not only the two countries but also the world.

"China has always acted on its word, and we will implement the signed agreement," said Hua.

China has been fulfilling the phase one deal and purchasing US products as promised, but the US' imports from China dropped largely because of the country's ineffective containment of the coronavirus and policy uncertainties, experts said.

In the first half of 2020, China's trade surplus with the US dropped 10.8 percent to 851.71 billion yuan ($121.8 billion), a clear indication that China has been rebalancing trade with the US.

However, the US government's groundlessly accusations against China and a near frenzied crackdown on Chinese firms is not good for mutual trust and cooperation, said Hua.

"China must resolutely say 'no' to the unjust bullying of the US, and will also resolutely take actions to safeguard its sovereignty, security and interests," she added.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday it will impose sanctions against related US personnel and entities in response to the Hong Kong Autonomy Act signed by the US government.

Global Times