China agrees to open market to US beef, gas

Beijing : China announced on Friday an agreement with the United States to resume imports of US beef and open its market to US natural gas and financial services.

The deal comes a month after Chinese President Xi Jinping and Donald Trump held a friendly meeting at the US leader's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, where they launched a 100-day action plan on economic cooperation.

Under the agreement announced by both countries, China will lift a 13-year embargo on US beef imports by July 16, while Chinese companies will be able to buy US natural gas.

China will also allow wholly foreign-owned financial services firms to provide credit rating services in the Asian giant.

The announcement is another indication that Trump is nurturing good relations with China after pledging to take punitive measures against the country during the US presidential campaign.

Trump had threatened to impose trade tariffs and label Beijing a currency manipulator, neither of which he has done.