China committed to Phase 1 trade deal despite pandemic - US official

China remains "very, very committed" to meeting its commitments under a Phase 1 trade deal with the United States, despite the unprecedented economic and health impacts of the new coronavirus pandemic, a senior US trade official said on Wednesday.

The official told reporters that US officials were talking regularly, and often daily, about implementation of the trade deal and to make sure that China fulfilled its extensive agreements to buy US goods and services.

The US Trade Representative's office kept China on its priority watch list for concerns about intellectual property protections and enforcement, and was watching closely to see if it implemented changes agreed as part of the trade agreement, the official said.