Investing.com – Asian equities rebounded in afternoon trade on Friday as U.S. and China signalled they are open to resume negotiations over trade. China’s export rose more than expected in June, although the country’s export outlook is being clouded by the recent trade dispute with the United States, as both countries slapping tit-for-tat duties on each other's goods last Friday.
China posted a trade surplus of $41.61 billion for the month, customs data showed on Friday, compared to the general consensus of $27.61 billion.
For the first half of this year, exports rose 12.8% from the same period in 2017, and imports rose 19.9%, data showed.
Meanwhile, markets continued to digest the latest trade development as China's vice foreign minister Zhang Jun said on Friday that the U.S.’s accusations against China on trade were groundless and that Washington's actions are not supported by the international community.
His comments came after U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Thursday that he and the administration are “available” for discussion, but China must first agree to deeper economic reforms.
“To the extent that China wants to make structural changes, I and the administration are available,” Mnuchin said on Thursday. “We are not advocating tariffs. We are advocating fair trade.”
China’s Vice Minister of Commerce Wang Shouwen also said on Thursday “when we have a trade problem, we should talk about it.”
China’s Shanghai Composite slipped 0.3% lower, while the Shenzhen Component and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index both rose 0.4%.
An article published by state-owned Chinese paper Global Times received some focus on Thursday as it claimed Chinese tourists are "reluctant to visit" the United States following recent trade dispute between the two countries.
Citing data from Mafengwo, a local trip-planning site, Global Times reported that interest in travel to major American travel destinations such as Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco and Las Vegas has decreased in the first six months of 2018 as "interest in traveling to the U.S. has withered as peak vacation season approaches.”
The newspaper further noted that the switch to other destinations "could hurt" key sectors of the U.S. economy that rely on tourism.
Overall, nearly 3 million Chinese tourists visit the U.S. annually and spending has topped $30 billion in recent years.
In other news, Donald Trump warned U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May’s plans for a soft Brexit would affect trade deal with the U.S. “in a negative way.”
“If they do a deal like that, we would be dealing with the European Union instead of dealing with the U.K., so it will probably kill the deal,” Trump said in an interview in the Sun newspaper to be published Friday.
Elsewhere in Asia, Japan’s Nikkei 225 jumped 2% higher in morning trade, while South Korea’s KOSPI gained 1.1%.
Down Under, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.5%.