Chinese stocks slip as investors turn cautious before US talks

Chinese shares edged lower as caution prevailed ahead of the closely watched weekend trade talks between the world’s two largest economies.

The onshore benchmark CSI 300 Index finished Friday’s morning session down 0.2%, while a gauge of Chinese firms listed in Hong Kong dropped 0.3%. Despite the moves, both indexes remain close to recouping their losses since President Donald Trump announced tariffs as high as 145% on Chinese goods early last month.

The cautious tone came as Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer are set to meet in Switzerland with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng for trade negotiations during the weekend. Trump said that if talks went well, he could consider lowering the tariffs on China.

While the upcoming talks are intended to ease a tariff standoff, expectations are low for the two sides to reach a quick deal anytime soon. In another sign of lingering investor wariness, markets also shrugged off latest data showing China’s surprise export growth in April despite Trump’s tariffs.

“China still has a relatively low visibility on reaching a deal with the US, while the long-awaited stimulus so far has been restrained,” said Patrick Pan, equity strategist at Daiwa Capital Markets Hong Kong Ltd., adding that even if CSI 300 rebounds later, “I will not be too excited because we still have all those concerns.”

The onshore benchmark climbed in each of the previous three sessions, supported by stimulus measures from Chinese authorities, including a cut in interest rates and banks’ reserve requirement ratio.