US-China to resume trade talks in Beijing

US officials arrived in China for the first face-to-face negotiations since a 90-day truce was declared in a trade war between Washington and Beijing, in the hope of ending a bruising confrontation between the world’s two largest economies.

Hopes that the sixth round of negotiations between the two sides could yield a breakthrough helped Asian shares rise on Monday, combined with optimism about the state of the global economy on the back of strong US jobs figures on Friday.

The meeting comes amid rising concern about the impact of trade tensions on the global economy.

The US delegation will be led by Deputy US Trade Representative Jeffrey Gerrish.

While the temporary truce has provided some relief, there is scepticism over the possibility of a breakthrough at the meeting in Beijing.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei soared more than 3% and there were also strong positive moves in Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Sydney.

US and Chinese trade representatives were set to hold talks on Monday and Tuesday. After failing to reach an agreement in December when Donald Trump and Xi Jinping met, both sides agreed to suspend tariff increases while holding discussions on technology transfers, as well as intellectual property theft and cybersecurity. If no agreement is reached, US tariffs on $200bn (£160bn) of Chinese goods will increase in March to 25% from the current 10%.

Officials from China and the US were expected to cover a range of thorny issues.

The White House said in December the two sides would negotiate "structural changes with respect to forced technology transfer, intellectual property protection, non-tariff barriers, cyber intrusions, and cyber theft."

The US says China's "unfair" trade practices have contributed to a lofty trade deficit and accuses China of intellectual property theft.

Like other countries in the West, it is also concerned about the risks that Chinese companies may pose to national security. Many increasingly see the trade war as a battle for global leadership between the world's two largest economies.