Beijing and Washington have made “substantial progress” toward a partial trade deal, China’s top trade negotiator said Saturday, in his first comments since talks with U.S. President Donald trump last week.

Trump announced the partial deal after meetings in Washington with the Chinese trade delegation led by Liu he, which ended on October 11.

It included promises to increase purchases of US agricultural products and protection of intellectual property, but did not contain specific details.

“China and the US have made significant progress in many aspects and laid an important Foundation for the first phase of the agreement,” the Vice Premier said at a virtual reality conference in Nanchang, Jiangxi province, on Saturday.

In his first public comments on the talks in Washington, Liu said an important basis for signing a phased deal had been worked out.

China is “willing to work together with the US to solve each other’s major problems on the basis of equality and mutual respect,” Liu said, according to a report on the Taoran notes, a social media account run by the official economic daily.

Trump’s announced deal offered a temporary reprieve from tariffs scheduled for mid-October. It has however rolled back none of the stinging import duties already imposed up to now on hundreds of billions of dollars in trade between economic powers. It also does not address another round of import taxes scheduled for December.

“An end to the escalation of a trade war benefits China, the US and around the world. This is what manufacturers and consumers alike are hoping for, ” Liu said.

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