China said Thursday it has not set a target to cut its trade surplus with the US but will seek to increase imports after the two sides stepped back from a potential trade war.

Officials from Beijing were reported to have offered to slash the country's huge surplus by $200 billion during high-level talks last week — meeting a key Washington demand — by ramping up imports from the United States.

That was followed on Monday by President Donald Trump tweeting that China will buy "massive amounts" of additional American agriculture products.

But commerce ministry spokesman Gao Feng denied that any figure was set during negotiations in Washington, which ended with the two countries agreeing to back off imposing tit-for-tat tariffs, though few details were revealed.

"China did not make any commitment on the specific amount of reduction of trade surplus with the US," Gao told a regular news briefing.

"China will actively encourage companies to increase imports of US commodities and services according to market principles" and its own economic and consumption needs, Gao said.

"The two sides are willing to further strengthen cooperation in fields including agricultural products, energy, medical treatment, high-tech industry and finance."

Both sides have extended olive branches since the weekend, with China announcing on Tuesday that it will cut auto import tariffs from July 1.

And Trump said his administration could impose a new fine of as much as $1.3 billion on embattled Chinese telecom company ZTE to replace crippling sanctions imposed last month that threatened to put the firm out of business.

However, there are concerns about Sunday's agreement after Trump said he was "not satisfied" with it.

Foxconn unit to raise $4.2bn in China IPO
Shanghai (AFP) May 23, 2018 –

A unit of electronics manufacturing giant Foxconn said it will launch an initial public offering in China on Thursday aimed at raising $4.2 billion, in the biggest mainland debut in nearly three years.

Taiwan's Foxconn Industrial Internet, which makes electronic devices, cloud service equipment and industrial robots, will float 10 percent of its total shares, according to a prospectus filed late Tuesday with the Shanghai stock exchange.

Taipei-based Foxconn itself, which is also known as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co, is the world's largest electronics contract manufacturer, a major supplier of components and assembler of products by international brands such as Apple and Sony.

Foxconn Industrial Internet will issue 1.97 billion new shares at 13.77 yuan per share to raise 27.1 billion yuan ($4.2 billion).

The IPO would be the biggest in mainland China since a market crash in 2015 and one of the largest ever for the country's stock exchanges.

Foxconn said it will use the funds raised to upgrade its smart manufacturing, build internet platforms to connect factories and invest in cloud computing and fifth-generation communication technologies in its mainland factories.

The IPO will be the largest in mainland China since June 2015, when Guotai Junan Securities raised more than $4.8 billion.

After that, a prolonged bout of Chinese stock market turbulence, which saw the key Shanghai index tumble nearly 40 percent in a little more than two months, put a chill on big-ticket listings.

The IPO comes as Beijing is pushing to attract more listings on mainland markets by domestic Chinese technology companies.

Analysts say that push is part of broader plans to become a global tech leader.

Foxconn, which is one of China's largest single employers, has around a million workers at its factories across the country, plus operations in more than 10 countries including Vietnam, Brazil and Mexico.