China has signaled that it is becoming more open to engaging in trade negotiations with the Trump administration, according to two blogs closely associated with China’s state apparatus, even as Beijing maintains a defiant stance in the trade war.
After three months of bluster and tariffs so high they have all but curtailed trade between the world’s two biggest economies, both sides now appear to be softening their rhetoric ever so slightly. This comes amid new data showing that the trade war is already damaging both sides.
Beijing sees “little downside in exploring” contact with the Trump administration, wrote Yuyuan Tantian, a blog affiliated with state broadcaster CCTV. But, it added, China won’t start negotiations until the United States takes “concrete actions.”
“This could be a way for China to observe — and potentially draw out — the U.S.’s true intentions, while keeping the upper hand in both dialogue and confrontation,” the blog wrote Thursday.
That marks a subtle shift in Beijing’s trade war messaging and may indicate a fragile opportunity for the countries to come to the negotiating table, Chinese politics experts say, though brokering a real trade war de-escalation will probably be difficult.
“China appears ready to engage with the U.S. on talks or negotiations,” said Zichen Wang, author of the Pekingnology newsletter and research fellow at the Center for China and Globalization, a Beijing think tank.
The similar and simultaneous messages come from two blogs — the other run by Ren Yi, a politically well-connected writer who uses the moniker “Chairman Rabbit” — that “have a record of conveying messages out of Beijing,” he said.
Ren said in an interview that Beijing is “definitely” willing to come to the negotiating table. “Nobody wants this war,” he said, adding that this has been China’s position since the beginning of the trade showdown.
But the Trump administration needs to “indicate that they’re really serious,” he added, with moves like significant tariff reductions.
The U.S. has imposed a minimum tariff of 145 percent on all goods it imports from China, while Beijing responded with a 125 percent blanket levy.
It’s unclear whether President Donald Trump would be willing to take the steps that Beijing wants, given that he has repeatedly said China must make the first move, though he has struck a more conciliatory tone in the past two weeks. At a Cabinet meeting Wednesday, he praised Chinese leader Xi Jinping and claimed to be “talking with China.”
“At a certain point, I hope we’re going to make a deal with China,” he added.
Asked Wednesday whether China and the U.S. had been in touch on tariffs within the previous 24 hours, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said he was not aware of any consultations or negotiations between the two sides.
The slight tempering from Beijing comes just after data was released showing the early economic toll of the trade war on China. Overall manufacturing activity in April was the weakest in over a year, according to figures published Wednesday by China’s National Bureau of Statistics.
Though the Chinese economy had been grappling with a property crisis and persistent deflation, there had recently been tentative signs of recovery, with the economy growing at an annual rate of 5.4 percent — exceeding expectations — in the first three months of the year. The trade war now threatens to undo that progress.
On the U.S. side, data released Wednesday showed the world’s biggest economy shrank in the first three months of 2025, as trade uncertainty spooked consumers, investors and businesses.
Some commentators in China say economic pressure in the U.S. is driving Trump to pull back from his previous trade brinkmanship.
“High tariffs are taking a huge economic toll, domestic political pressure is heating up day by day, and Trump’s strategy to rally allies [against China] has failed,” Chairman Rabbit wrote on Thursday. “Those, combined with resolute and forceful countermeasures from China, are pressuring the Trump administration to adjust its approach, proactively seek dialogues with China, and try to find a dignified way to wrap up his unsustainable tariff war.”
Still, the messaging from Beijing is mixed.
It has continued to blast Washington’s trade levies, and the Foreign Ministry published a fiery video this week promising that China would “never kneel down.”
At the same time, China exempted some U.S.-made goods, including semiconductors, from its 125 percent tariff.
During a visit to Shanghai this week, Xi conveyed strength, castingChina as a champion for the international community. Visiting an artificial intelligence incubator, he emphasized China’s investment and policy support for technologies of the future.
China’s legislature also passed a law on Wednesday aimed at promoting the private sector, ensuring fair competition and supporting entrepreneurs. Against the backdrop of the trade war, the Paper, a state-run outlet, said in an editorial that China needs such a law “all the more to encourage, support and guide the development of the private economy.”
The combination of Xi’s Shanghai visit and the confrontational video makes some observers skeptical that Beijing is ready to launch negotiations.
“I don’t think we should read too much into the CCTV piece, which is just one tiny soft voice in a mostly hard-line camp,” said Andy Xie, a Shanghai-based independent economist and financial adviser. “China is still defiant and has not softened its stance on Trump’s tariff war.”
One thing is certain: Beijing and Washington each seem to be betting on the idea that the rippling economic pain from the trade war will drive the other country to the negotiating table first.
“Both sides are waiting for the other side to blink first,” said Yao Yang, an economist at Peking University. “Both sides are worried if they blink first, they are going to lose bargaining power in the negotiation.”
Trump implied Wednesday that China’s tariff-related economic troubles — which he described as the country “getting absolutely hammered” — would help the two nations strike a deal.
Trump may be engaging in wishful thinking, said Alfred Wu, who studies public governance in China at the National University of Singapore.
“The trade war back-and-forth really impacts the daily lives of many people,” Wu said. “But the most important thing for Chinese leadership is trying to keep power. So the economic side is one factor, but it may not be fundamental.”
Even if the two countries begin talking, informally or formally, there is no guarantee of success.
It is unclear what concessions Washington is seeking in a potential deal with Beijing, while China may first look for significant tariff reductions or exemptions. As Chairman Rabbit put it: “Welcoming dialogue does not mean making concessions without principles.”
More broadly, the U.S.-China relationship has been increasingly fraught since Trump’s first term in office, with issues including Taiwan and the South China Sea creating stumbling blocks between the superpowers.
“We are still sounding each other out, and we don’t know how long this process is going to take,” said Xin Qiang, deputy director of the Center for American Studies at Fudan University. “And even after we get the talks started, it will probably be long before we see any concrete results.”
Beijing isn’t holding its breath, analysts say. Instead, Chinese officials are trying to expand trade relationships with countries in Asia and Europe.
As part of that outreach, China lifted sanctions on Wednesday on five European Union lawmakers, which it had imposed in retaliation for the bloc’s defense of Uyghur Muslims in China’s northwestern Xinjiang region, according to a European Parliament news release. The sanctions halted official dialogue with China and froze negotiations on a bilateral investment pact.
“Our relationship with China remains complex and multifaceted,” European Parliament president Roberta Metsola said. “The best way to approach it is through engagement and dialogue.”
