The Ministry of Transport in Beijing on Monday announced a one-year suspension of special port fees for ships owned or operated by US enterprises, organisations and individuals "simultaneously" with Washington's pause on levies targeting Chinese ships as a fragile trade truce between the superpowers continues to take shape.

It also announced a similar suspension of its probe into how a US Section 301 investigation affects the security and development interests of China's shipping and shipbuilding sectors, as well as related industrial and supply chains.

In line with that, Beijing said it would suspend sanctions against US subsidiaries of Hanwha Ocean, one of South Korea's largest shipbuilders.

The suspensions, which took effect at 1.01pm on Monday, are in line with the consensus reached during the recent China-US economic and trade talks in Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, the ministry said.

At one point, duties on both sides had reached prohibitive triple-digit levels, hampering trade between the world's two largest economies and snarling global supply chains.

The US shipbuilding industry was dominant after World War II but has gradually declined and now accounts for just 0.1 percent of global output.

The sector is now dominated by Asia, with China building nearly half of all ships launched, ahead of South Korea and Japan.

The suspensions are the latest sign of a thaw in economic ties.

On Wednesday, China said it would extend the suspension of additional tariffs on US goods for one year, keeping them at 10 percent, and suspend some tariffs on soybeans and other US agricultural products.

China also suspended an export ban on gallium, germanium and antimony, metals crucial for modern technology, on Sunday.

Also following talks, Beijing agreed to halt for one year restrictions on the export of rare earths technology.

Washington in turn agreed to suspend for one year export restrictions on affiliates of blacklisted foreign companies in which they had at least a 50 percent stake, the Commerce Ministry in Beijing said on Wednesday. (Agencies/Xinhua)