After signing the phase one trade deal with U.S. President Donald Trump, Chinese Vice Premier Liu He issued a statement at a news conference.

Liu He said that China's 2019 GDP growth was estimated to be above 6 percent, and that the country's economic outlook was "better-than-expected" based on multiple economic indicators.

China and the United States will benefit if they cooperate; both will be hurt if the two countries fight, said Liu He. "Cooperation is the only correct option, especially in this new era."

China and the U.S. need to upgrade their business environment, improve the protection of intellectual property and encourage cooperation in technology, detailed Liu He. This would be in order to boost fair competition and establish an evaluation system for both, and for the resolution of disputes, he added.

Liu He added that China and the U.S. have different opinions in trade, and both want to solve this problem. "We don't think tariffs are a good solution. Both sides need to solve problems through negotiation."

He said that the talks involved politics, economy, and culture.

"After two years of talks, we realize that this is a systematic process."

Cooperation is very important, Liu said. "China and the U.S. will make positive impacts on the whole world."

"We will use the results of the phase one deal to prove that our negotiations are working to improve the economy."

"It is the correct choice for the U.S. to remove China from the currency manipulator list," said Liu. "A week after the U.S. labeled China as a currency manipulator, the IMF issued a report that China did not manipulate the exchange rate," he added. "The U.S. realized this fact, and we welcome the U.S. meeting China halfway on this."

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"Better-than-expected"

During the press conference, Liu He mentioned that China's GDP in 2019 was estimated to grow more than 6 percent, marking a top ranking performance on the world's stage.

For the past two months, indicators like PMI, industrial added value, as well as economic benefits of the enterprises all signified "a better-than-expected economic outlook going forward."

Liu also pointed out that China's economy is "transitioning from high-speed growth to high-quality development," recognizing that a large market size and a considerable amount of middle-income consumers can power the engine of China's economy in the long run.

In his remark, Liu He said that "the phase one economic and trade deal between China and the United States is beneficial not only for both countries but also for the whole world."

While talking about China's opening-up and the economic reform, Liu mentioned that the next step would be focusing on the modern services sector, agriculture, infrastructure, and more importantly, setting an international benchmark in terms of IP protection.

Liu noted that China would keep working on providing a perfectly contestable market for foreign investments, and actively tune in to establishing a new and fairer international trade standard.

"The China-U.S. relationship is one of the most important bilateral relationships around the globe," noted by Liu, "The steady development of the Chinese economy will present a positive opportunity to the world economy, and the U.S. included."