Update 1-China hopes U.S. will cooperate to create favourable conditions for trade deal, says top diplomat

Yang reiterated China's call for all sectors from both countries to engage in dialogue, adding that the door for communication "has always been fully open". He also urged the military in both countries to engage more and make good use of confidence-building mechanisms. "Military ties should become the stabilising factor for bilateral relations," wrote Yang.

China urges the United States to strengthen cooperation so as to create favourable conditions for the implementation of the phase one trade deal, said its top diplomat Yang Jiechi on Friday.

Yang, in an essay published on China's foreign ministry website, also urged the United States to stop "bullying" Chinese firms and to create a fair, open, non-discriminatory environment for them, in an apparent reference to an impending U.S. ban on transactions with the Chinese owners of messaging app WeChat and video-sharing app TikTok. Relations between the world's two largest economies have deteroriated since the phase one trade deal was signed in January, with the U.S. criticising Beijing harshly over its actions in the coronavirus pandemic, Hong Kong and the northwestern Chinese region of Xinjiang.

Yang argued that cooperation between China and the United States would be beneficial to both countries and to the world, whereas confrontation would be "a sure disaster". Yang reiterated China's call for all sectors from both countries to engage in dialogue, adding that the door for communication "has always been fully open".

He also urged the military in both countries to engage more and make good use of confidence-building mechanisms. "Military ties should become the stabilising factor for bilateral relations," wrote Yang.