The first meeting of the China-US economic and trade consultation mechanism opened in London on Monday.

Vice Premier He Lifeng attended the meeting with the US delegation including Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer at Lancaster House.

The meeting is aimed at shoring up a fragile truce in a trade dispute sparked by US tariffs that has roiled the global economy.

The talks are expected to last at least a day and followed negotiations in Geneva last month that brought a temporary respite in the trade war.

Lutnick did not attend the Geneva talks at which the countries struck a 90-day deal to roll back some of the triple-digit tariffs they had placed on each other.

President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Donald Trump spoke by phone last Thursday in an attempt to put relations back on track.

The meeting in London was helped by news that Beijing on Saturday approved some applications for rare-earth exports, while US aviation giant Boeing is to start sending commercial jets to China for the first time since April. (Agencies)