China pledges to work seriously with US ahead of Ross' visit

China's government has pledged to work conscientiously with Washington on resolving a sprawling trade dispute ahead of a visit by U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross to Beijing.

China's Commerce Ministry said Wednesday it welcomes imports of "high-quality and competitive" American products following promises to buy more American farm goods and energy.

The ministry's statement gave no details of possible new initiatives but promised to "conscientiously implement" the joint statement by China and the U.S. issued Saturday in which Beijing agreed to "substantially reduce" America's trade deficit with China.

China did not commit to cut the gap by any specific amount. The Trump administration had sought to slash the deficit by $200 billion.