The Chinese government announced on Thursday that it will cut tariffs against more than 1700 US goods in half, in order to comply with what was agreed in "phase 1" of the trade deal.
The Chinese finance ministry stated during an announcement that from February 14 tariffs will be cut to 5 percent from 10 percent, as well as others, expect to be diminished from 5 percent to 2.5 percent. It's still not clear the value of the goods that will be affected by this decision, it is only known that the reductions correspond with the already announced by the American government, which are also taking place on February 14. Further tariff reductions would depend on the bilateral economic and trade situation according to the commerce ministry.
China is currently amid an economic struggle due to the coronavirus outbreak, which has been driving down the domestic demand. In order to combat the outbreak, the Chinese commerce ministry recently announced its decision to expand imports of medical supplies and daily necessities to "ensure domestic supply" and to "Combat against Novel Coronavirus Epidemic."
"The Ministry of Commerce, together with relevant business associations, will actively make good efforts in providing information services for foreign suppliers and domestic importers," added the commerce ministry on its statement.
The coronavirus has killed nearly 500 victims and infected around 24,000. The virus has already spread to other countries, like Japan and the outbreak has spread an unease sensation in the financial markets, driving investors towards safe-haven assets.
Australian shares ended up in positive territory at the end of Thursday's session, gaining more than 1 percent. The S&P/ASX 200 index closed at 7,049.2, gaining 1.1 percent after climbing 0.4 percent on the previous session.
In the foreign exchange market, the Chinese yuan advanced by 0.031 percent against the US dollar, hitting the 0.1434 level.