After a period of increasing disagreements that threatened to stop trade discussions, high-level negotiators from the U.S. and China have reportedly agreed on a plan to restart negotiations, as stated by both sides.

The announcement was made after two days of discussions in the British capital, which finished late on Tuesday.

The meetings seemed to focus on resolving disagreements about mineral and technology exports, which had disturbed a sensitive trade agreement reached in Geneva last month. However, it's not clear if any progress was made on the more basic differences concerning China's large trade surplus with the United States.

U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told reporters that after dealing with and mostly getting rid of the negative atmosphere, they were now able to progress.

Asian stock markets rallied on Wednesday in the wake of the agreement's announcement.

The talks happened after President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping had a phone call last week, aiming to reduce the tension.

Li Chenggang, who is the Vice Minister of Commerce and China's International Trade Representative, said that both sides had generally agreed on a plan to put into practice the agreements made during the recent phone call and the discussions in Geneva, as reported by the official Xinhua News Agency.

Specific information, such as the potential timing for future talks, was not revealed at that time.

Li and Wang Wentao, who is China's commerce minister, were part of the delegation led by Vice Premier He Lifeng. They had a meeting with Lutnick, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer at Lancaster House, which is an old mansion near Buckingham Palace.

Wendy Cutler, a former U.S. trade representative, stated that the disagreements had already used up 30 of the 90 days the two sides had to try and resolve their issues.

In Geneva, both sides agreed to pause most of the very high tariffs, over 100%, that they had put on each other for 90 days. This was part of a growing trade conflict that made people worried about a recession. Because of more trade barriers, the World Bank lowered its predictions on Tuesday for how much the U.S. and global economies would grow this year.

Cutler, who is now Vice President at the Asia Society Policy Institute, noted that the U.S. and China wasted important time in getting their Geneva agreements back on track. They now only have sixty days left to deal with important issues like unfair trade, too much production, moving goods through other countries, and fentanyl.

Since the Geneva talks, the U.S. and China have argued a lot about advanced semiconductors used for artificial intelligence, visas for Chinese students studying at American universities, and rare earth minerals important for carmakers and other industries.

China, which produces the most rare earths globally, has suggested it could issue export licenses for these elements more rapidly. In exchange, Beijing hopes the U.S. will remove its limitations on China's ability to access the technology used to create advanced semiconductors.

Lutnick stated that sorting out the rare earths problem is a key part of the agreed plan. He also said that the U.S. would take back the actions it had put in place as a reaction, but he did not say exactly what those actions were.

"He stated that a decline in export implementation should be anticipated following the approval of the licenses."

Cutler stated that it would be an unusual step for the U.S. to negotiate its export controls, which she described as a problem that China has been bringing up for nearly 20 years.

By taking this action, the U.S. has unintentionally given China an opportunity to demand that export controls be included in future discussions,

On Tuesday, a federal appeals court in Washington allowed the government to continue collecting tariffs, which are taxes on imported goods. These tariffs were imposed by the Trump administration on products from China and other countries globally. This decision will remain in effect while the government appeals a previous ruling that challenged his primary trade policy.

Trump stated previously his desire to facilitate greater access for American products to the Chinese market, the world's foremost manufacturing power.

Speaking at the White House, Trump said that if China's economy doesn't become more open, they might not be able to achieve anything, but he stressed that they really want to open up China.