Chinese companies have started enquiring about prices for US agricultural products including soybeans and pork, the Ministry of Commerce said on Thursday.

The Chinese and US sides have maintained effective communication, the ministry's spokesman Gao Feng told a weekly news briefing in Beijing. The working teams of the two countries will meet in the near future to fully prepare for the next round of high-level consultations, he said.

Gao said China welcomes the US goodwill gesture that delays by two weeks a planned increase on $250 billion worth of Chinese goods until Oct 15.

China hopes both countries will meet each other halfway, take concrete action, and create favorable conditions for future trade talks, Gao said.