By Michael Martina and Tom Daly
BEIJING (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday praised his relationship with Chinese President Xi Jinping as officials from the world's two largest economies began trade talks in Beijing, while state media said China would stand up to U.S. bullying.
A breakthrough deal to fundamentally change China's economic policies is viewed as highly unlikely during the two days of talks, though a package of short-term Chinese measures could delay Washington's decision to impose tariffs on about $50 billion worth of Chinese exports.
The discussions, led by U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He, are expected to cover a wide range of U.S. complaints about China's trade practices, from accusations of forced technology transfers to state subsidies for technology development.
"Thrilled to be here. Thank you," Mnuchin told Reuters at his hotel when asked if he expected progress. He made no other comments.
As Mnuchin arrived, Trump tweeted: "Our great financial team is in China trying to negotiate a level playing field on trade! I look forward to being with President Xi in the not too distant future. We will always have a good (great) relationship!"
It was not clear when Trump and Xi might meet again next, though both will likely attend some of the same multilateral summits this year, including those of the G20 and APEC.
Throughout his 2016 election campaign, Trump routinely threatened to impose a 45 percent across-the-board tariff on Chinese goods as a way to level the playing field for American workers. At the time, he was also accusing China of manipulating its currency to gain an export advantage, a claim that his administration has since dropped.
The U.S. Embassy in Beijing said the U.S. delegation planned to meet Chinese officials on both days, in addition to U.S. Ambassador Terry Branstad, before leaving on Friday evening.
The delegation returned to their hotel late on Thursday evening without taking questions from reporters, though, when asked how the talks were going, one unidentified U.S. official said "Well."
In Washington, the U.S.-China Business Council, which represents American companies doing business in China, said it was pleased the two governments were talking and urged a deal to end forced technology transfers and improve China's intellectual property protections.
"USCBC believes it is unlikely that the issues will be fully resolved in this meeting, but we hope the two sides will be able to lay out a path for continued negotiations that will lead to a solution and avoid tariffs and other commerce-slowing sanctions," the group said in a statement.