By agreeing to meet with the Trump administration to discuss trade, China is seeking to cast itself as the responsible one in a bruising superpower competition that has roiled the global financial system and set off fears of a recession.

通过同意与特朗普政府会面讨论贸易问题，中国正寻求在一场激烈的超级大国竞争中把自己塑造成负责任的一方。这场竞争扰乱了全球金融体系，引发对经济衰退的担忧。

For weeks, China had publicly said that it would not engage in trade talks with the United States under duress, refusing to “kneel down” and compromise with a “bully.” It insisted that Washington should first drop its eye-watering tariffs on China as a condition for negotiations.

几周以来，中国一直公开表示不会在胁迫下与美国进行贸易谈判，“不跪，”拒绝向“霸凌”低头。该国坚称谈判的条件是华盛顿首先放弃对中国征收的令人瞠目的关税。

On Wednesday, Beijing indicated it would come to the table after all, saying that its top trade official, He Lifeng, would meet with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in Switzerland this week. Even so, it maintained a tough stance, warning Washington against using the talks as “a smoke screen to continue coercion and extortion.”

本周三，北京表示它终究会坐到谈判桌前，称其最高贸易官员何立峰将于本周在瑞士与美国财政部长斯科特·贝森特会面。即便如此，中国仍坚持强硬立场，警告华盛顿不要“企图以谈为幌子，继续搞胁迫讹诈”。

The Chinese government said it had come to this decision “based on a full consideration of global expectations, China’s interests and the calls of American industry and consumers,” suggesting that it was doing so largely for the greater good.

中国政府表示，它是在“充分考虑全球期待、中方利益、美国业界和消费者呼吁的基础上”做出这一决定的，并表示它这样做在很大程度上是为了更大的利益。

“China is trying to frame itself as the responsible party, but it’s still a pretty hard-line tone: You better behave yourself in these talks,” said Yun Sun, a China analyst at the Stimson Center.

史汀生中心中国问题分析师孙韵说：“中国正试图把自己塑造成负责任的一方，但它的语气仍然相当强硬：你最好在这些谈判中表现好一点。”

But the move is still a softening of China’s stance, at a time when economic data has shown that the trade brinkmanship was taking a toll on both countries’ economies.

但在经济数据显示贸易边缘政策正对两国经济造成损害之际，此举仍是中国立场的一种软化。

The Trump administration’s decision to raise tariffs on Chinese goods imported to the United States by 145 percent, and China’s response in hiking its own tariffs on American goods to 125 percent, has effectively frozen all trade between the two countries in recent weeks.

最近几周，特朗普政府决定将中国输美商品的关税提高145%，而中国的回应是将对美国商品的关税提高到125%，实际上等于冻结了两国之间的所有贸易。

Chinese factories were hit with the steepest slowdown in activity in more than a year, and shipments of Chinese goods to the United States have plunged, triggering a wave of warnings from retailers about shortages. The American economy shrank in the first three months of the year, and companies slashed growth forecasts.

中国工厂的生产活动出现了一年多来最严重的放缓，中国对美国的商品出货量大幅下降，促使美国零售商纷纷发出货物短缺的警告。美国经济在今年前三个月出现萎缩，企业纷纷下调增长预期。

财政部长贝森特上个月与特朗普总统乘坐空军一号。贝森特表示，与中国的谈判更有可能是为了缓和贸易紧张局势，而不是达成协议。

Both the United States and China seem interested in reducing the tariffs, but neither side has wanted to make the initial concession. It also remains unclear if, or how quickly, the two countries might strike any kind of deal, or what its specifics could be.

美国和中国似乎都有意降低关税，但都不愿做出最初的让步。目前还不清楚两国是否会达成某种协议，或者以多快的速度达成协议，也不清楚协议的具体内容是什么。

In an interview with Fox News on Tuesday night, Mr. Bessent said he expected the meeting with Chinese officials in Switzerland to focus on de-escalation rather than any major deal.

贝森特周二晚间接受福克斯新闻采访时表示，他预计与中国官员在瑞士的会晤将侧重于缓和紧张局势，而不是达成任何重大协议。

“We’ve got to de-escalate before we can move forward,” Mr. Bessent said.

“我们必须首先缓和局势，然后才能向前推进，”贝森特说。

For its part, China wants to show that it will be coming to the negotiations from a position of strength, even though the U.S. had not canceled tariffs first as Beijing had demanded. In recent days it has repeatedly said that U.S. officials had reached out for talks and that it was considering the request.

中国方面希望表明，尽管美国没有像北京要求的那样首先取消关税，但中国将以强势的姿态参加谈判。最近几天，中国一再表示，是美国官员主动提出谈判，中国正在考虑这一要求。

“The Chinese are trying to avoid the image that the Chinese were eager to talk,” Ms. Sun said.

“中方努力避免给人留下中国急于谈判的印象，”孙韵说。

Chinese officials will likely be treating the trade talks as a fact-finding mission.

中国官员可能会将这次贸易谈判视为一项探明真相的任务。

“The Chinese want to find out what Donald Trump is really up to, and you can only get this by engaging in direct talks,” said Wang Xiangwei, an associate professor of journalism at Hong Kong Baptist University.

香港浸会大学新闻学副教授王向伟说，“中国人想知道唐纳德·特朗普到底想干什么，这一点只有通过直接对话才能实现。”

Until now, for instance, it has not been entirely clear to Beijing which Trump officials were in charge of future negotiations with China, Mr. Wang said.

例如，到目前为止，北京还不完全清楚特朗普的哪些官员将负责未来与中国的谈判，王向伟说。

Part of the challenge in dealing with the Trump administration on trade is that the direction of policy seems to vary depending on who is speaking. Peter Navarro, a senior White House trade adviser and the architect of many of Mr. Trump’s trade plans, has defended the tariffs as necessary, while Mr. Bessent has said the U.S. is willing to negotiate with countries.

在贸易问题上与特朗普政府打交道，部分挑战在于，政策方向似乎随着发言者的不同而变化。白宫高级贸易顾问、特朗普的许多贸易计划的设计师彼得·纳瓦罗为关税辩护，称其为必要的，而贝森特则表示，美国愿意与各国谈判。

洛杉矶的港口。

Even as the Trump administration appeared more willing to find an off-ramp to the trade standoff, there were still some questions about what tone the administration would strike during the talks, which Mr. Bessent said on Fox News would be held on Saturday and Sunday.

尽管特朗普政府似乎更愿意为解决贸易僵局找到出口，但关于政府在会谈中将采取何种基调，仍存在一些疑问。贝森特在福克斯新闻上表示，会谈将于周六和周日举行。

China said Mr. He was going to be in Geneva from Friday to Monday for meetings with Swiss leaders and that while he was there he would also meet Mr. Bessent. The Trump administration said Jamieson Greer, the U.S. trade representative, would also attend the meetings, though China did not mention Mr. Greer in its own statements about the talks.

中国表示，何立峰将于周五至周一在日内瓦与瑞士领导人会晤，在此期间，他将会见贝森特。特朗普政府表示，美国贸易代表贾米森·格里尔也将出席会议，不过中国在有关会谈的声明中没有提到格里尔。

Finding out what Mr. Trump wants from China and what he is willing to concede in negotiations would be useful to Beijing as it figures out its response. China has also been trying to persuade other countries not to cave to pressure from the Trump administration’s efforts to isolate China by imposing tariffs of their own on Chinese products, or by decoupling from Chinese manufacturing.

弄清楚特朗普想从中国那里得到什么，以及他愿意在谈判中做出什么让步，将对北京在考虑对策时有所帮助。特朗普政府试图向其他国家施压，要求它们对中国产品征收关税或与中国制造业脱钩，从而孤立中国，中国则一直在努力说服这些国家不要屈从这样的压力。

For Beijing, artfully lowering the temperature without looking weak in the face of Mr. Trump’s tariffs could help its own efforts to revitalize its economy. Chinese officials have been under pressure at home from the fallout of both a multiyear property crisis that has wiped out the savings of many families, along with broader trade tensions with countries other than the United States.

对北京来说，面对特朗普的关税，既巧妙地降温，同时又不显得软弱，可能有助于中国振兴经济的努力。中国官员在国内一直承受着压力，一方面是多年来的房地产危机导致许多家庭的积蓄蒸发，另一方面是与美国以外国家的贸易紧张局势。

China’s central bank and its financial regulators on Wednesday took their biggest policy steps yet to shield the economy from the trade war, moving to shore up the economy with a series of steps to make it easier for banks to lend money and get people spending.

中国央行及其金融监管机构周三采取了迄今为止最大的政策措施，以保护经济免受贸易战的影响，它采取一揽子措施，使银行更容易放贷，促进消费，从而提振经济。

The Trump administration’s “tariff policies have dealt a severe blow to the international economic and trade order, triggered significant turbulence in international financial markets, and placed considerable pressure on the domestic capital market,” said Wu Qing, China’s stock regulator, at a press briefing with top officials.

中国证监会主席吴青在与高层官员举行的新闻发布会上表示，特朗普政府的“关税政策严重冲击国际经贸秩序，国际金融市场剧烈动荡，也给国内资本市场带来很大压力”。

The Chinese side also comes to the talks emboldened by the knowledge that President Trump has blinked in the face of a sharp sell-off in U.S. government bond markets, and broader financial market turbulence. The midterm elections in the United States could exert some pressure on President Trump to lower or cut tariffs if consumer prices rise as a result of a shortage of goods.

中方知道，面对美国政府债券市场的大幅抛售和更广泛的金融市场动荡，特朗普总统已经退缩，这也让中方在会谈中更有底气。如果消费者价格因商品短缺而上涨，美国中期选举可能会给特朗普总统造成一定压力，要求他降低或削减关税。

The Chinese “still have the upper hand, but their economy is slowing,” said Scott Kennedy, a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington research group. “If they totally stonewall the Trump administration, they could end up looking complicit in bringing the global economy to a halt.”

中国“仍然占上风，但他们的经济正在放缓”，华盛顿研究机构战略与国际研究中心的高级顾问斯科特·肯尼迪说。“如果他们拒绝与特朗普政府接触，最终可能会被视为导致全球经济停滞的同谋。”