Former Chinese trade negotiator explains why Trump re-election is best for China

"Trump talks about material interests, not politics."

A former Chinese trade negotiator says President Trump's style of being a straight shooter makes his re-election the best thing for U.S.-China trade relations.

Trump's willingness to tweet about pretty much anything makes him "easy to read" and "transparent," Long Yongtu, China's former vice minister of foreign trade told the South China Morning Post.

"Trump talks about material interests, not politics," said Long, who helped get China into the World Trade Organization in 2001. "Such an opponent is the best choice for negotiations."

Long added that the pros of a Trump presidency outweigh the cons because China doesn't "need to spend so much time figuring out what Americans want any more" because Trump says exactly what is on his mind.

The Chinese economy grew at a 6 percent pace in the third quarter, its slowest since record-keeping began in 1993, as the trade war, which has seen the U.S. slap tariffs on more than $350 billion of the country's goods, has helped contribute to the slowdown.

Recently, there have been some signs thawing, with negotiators last month announcing they had agreed to the framework of a phase one deal.

CHINA EXPORTS SLIDE AS TRADE WAR GRINDS ON

However, the two sides have not yet put anything in writing.

Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping had hoped to sign an agreement on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation in Santiago, Chile, this week, but the event was canceled due to unrest in the country.

On Thursday, Chinese Ministry of Finance Spokesperson Gao Feng announced the two sides agreed to roll back tariffs if a phase one deal is reached.

The Trump administration has pushed back against those claims.

White House trade adviser Peter Navarro said the U.S. may be willing to postpone the new tariffs that are scheduled to hit $156 billion of Chinese goods on Dec. 15.

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Trump ruled out rolling back all of the tariffs on Chinese goods, saying China wants a deal “much more” than he does. He has said that a comprehensive trade deal would be done in two or three phases.